divorce and alimony

My wife (36 years old) and i are married for 8 years, she is Turkish and I am Dutch.
We dont have any children.
There is the apartment we live in which belongs to me and was bought before our marriage.
I hear that since my wife has never worked she has a right to half of the appartment, is that correct ?
Apart from that she demands alimony; will this mean i will have to pay this for the rest of my life, or does Turkish law knows a maximum time to pay?
Is there also an indication about which percentage of your income usually must be paid in Alimony?

In line with the International Civil Procedure Act, Art. 14, titled "Family Property", the spouses may opt for the legal system to govern the family property.These can be the law of the place of residence or one of the national laws of each. In the cases which such an option was not agreed upon, the family goods shall be governed respectively by the common national law of the spouses, in its default, the law of the common place of residence and finally, the law of the place whereabouts the goods.


As far as your case is concerned, as you have not mentioned about a specific law system that was chosen, the Turkish Family Law should prevail. The Turkish Civil Code stipulates that the goods of the family shall be seperated equally between the spouses unless upon any other property regime was agreed.However, this principle is valid for the marriages which are concluded after the entry into force of the very Code, date 01/01/2002. Also, as for the "participation on the Acquired Assets Principle" which has been brought by the new Act, the goods which are owned solely by each spouse pre-marriage shall be considered as "personal property" and is not subject to equal seperation.Therefore, the apartment is yours provided that you can prove the ownership before marriage.


The spouse who is irreproachable or at least not more faulty compared to the other side as redards the grounds of divorce, and who shall fall into poverty is entitled for a sum of money as alimony.This is not limited for a period of time, yet it can be lifted by the Court in case the conditions of which change or disappear.The sum shall be decided in accordance with the economic situations and the living conditions of each spouse, and no, there is not a quantitative restriction of alimony as per the income.

I am sorry for this but it is not permitted for Turkish lawyers to get in touch with their potential clients via internet due to probition of publicity.However, if you have further questions do not hesitate to ask here.

Good luck

According to Tukish Civil code your spouse can not take your asests you had before marriage. However if had not chosen law of property before marriage it means that at the time of wedding ceremony youhave chosen the legal law of property which is the spouses can both take the half of the assests they had together after the marriage.
so this means that your wife can not take the half share of your flat. Afterwards, if you do not have any children this means that you will not give her any child support which is good in your case. but the judge may sentence you to give her a suitable alimony which can take a time till she gets married again.
Besides these you may be sentenced to give her a suitable compensation if she wants at her petition and she deserves that as well. It depends on how much money she wants and how much of it will be accepted.