Inheritance shares in Turkey: spouse, children, parents

Where there is no will, Turkish inheritance law divides the estate according to the statutory shares in the Turkish Civil Code No. 4721 (Türk Medeni Kanunu, TMK). A spouse who inherits alongside children receives one quarter, and the children share the remaining three quarters equally (Articles 495 and 499 TMK). If there are no children, the parents come next; if they are not alive either, the estate passes to the siblings and the grandparents' side. The spouse's share grows accordingly.

Below I explain who receives how much, how the shares are calculated and the ways in which the estate can be divided. For real estate in Turkey these rules apply even if the deceased lived in Germany or the Netherlands (Art. 20(1) of Law No. 5718 on Private International Law and International Civil Procedure, MÖHUK).

Who are the statutory heirs? The three orders

Turkish law divides the statutory heirs (yasal mirasçılar) among blood relatives into three orders (zümre). If anyone in an earlier order is alive, the next order does not inherit.

First order: descendants. Children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. The children receive equal shares. A child who died before the deceased is replaced by his or her own children (Art. 495 TMK).
Second order: mother, father and their descendants. If there are no descendants, the mother and father inherit in equal shares. A parent who has died earlier is replaced by his or her descendants, meaning the deceased's brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews (Art. 496 TMK).
Third order: grandparents and their descendants. A grandparent who has died earlier is replaced by the uncles and aunts and their descendants (Art. 497 TMK).

Blood relatives inherit by law only up to the third order. If nobody in these orders is alive and there is no spouse, the estate passes to the State (Art. 501 TMK).

A child born outside marriage receives the same share on the father's side as a child born in marriage, provided parentage has been established by recognition or by a court decision (Art. 498 TMK). An adopted child and his or her descendants inherit from the adoptive parent as blood relatives do, and the adopted child keeps the right to inherit within his or her birth family. The adoptive parent, however, does not inherit from the adopted child (Art. 500 TMK).

The surviving spouse inherits alongside every order, but the size of the share depends on which order the spouse inherits with (Art. 499 TMK):

with children or grandchildren: one quarter of the estate,
with the parents' order: one half,
with the grandparents' order: three quarters,
if none of these relatives are alive: the whole estate.

The rest goes to the heirs of that order under the same rules. In the third order the law only counts the grandparents and their children alongside the spouse; if there are none, the spouse takes the whole estate (Art. 499(3) TMK). Some examples:

Spouse and two children: spouse 1/4, each child 3/8.
Spouse and three children, one of whom died earlier leaving two children: spouse 1/4; each of the two living children 1/4; the deceased child's 1/4 is split in half between his or her two children, so each grandchild receives 1/8.
A person with no children whose spouse, mother and father are alive: spouse 1/2, mother 1/4, father 1/4.
A person with no children whose parents have died, leaving a spouse and two siblings: spouse 1/2; the other 1/2 goes to the two siblings, who take the parents' place, 1/4 each.

The calculation changes for siblings who do not share both parents. A half-sibling only receives a share from the portion of the parent they have in common. This is because the law divides the share separately between the mother's side and the father's side and puts the descendants of a deceased parent in that parent's place (Art. 496 TMK). If there are no heirs at all on one side, that side's portion goes to the other side.

Divorce, separation and the spouse's right to inherit

Once a divorce becomes final, the spouses are no longer each other's statutory heirs. Anything left to the spouse in a will made before the divorce also lapses, unless the will shows otherwise (Art. 181(1) TMK).

If one spouse dies while divorce proceedings are pending, the other spouse is in principle an heir. However, if one of the deceased spouse's heirs continues the proceedings and the surviving spouse's fault is proven, the result is the same as after a divorce: the surviving spouse loses the right to inherit (Art. 181(2) TMK). Living apart does not, on its own, end the right to inherit.

Before the shares: winding up the matrimonial property regime

When a married person dies, the first step is not to calculate the inheritance shares. Death ends the spouses' matrimonial property regime (Art. 225(1) TMK). For spouses subject to Turkish law, the statutory regime is participation in acquired property (edinilmiş mallara katılma), a regime of Turkish law (Art. 202 TMK). This regime is wound up first: each spouse, or that spouse's heirs, is entitled to half of the other spouse's surplus value (artık değer) (Art. 236(1) TMK). The surviving spouse's participation claim (katılma alacağı) is set aside first. What remains is the deceased's estate, and the statutory shares are calculated on that estate.

So the surviving spouse can receive something in two separate ways: the participation claim under the property regime and the statutory share of the estate. The surviving spouse can also ask to be granted a usufruct or a right of residence in the home the couple shared, set off against the participation claim (Art. 240 TMK). Which country's law governs the property regime is a separate question, answered under Article 15 MÖHUK (Article 15 MÖHUK).

How is an estate divided?

Until the estate is divided, the heirs own all of it together in joint ownership (elbirliği mülkiyeti). None of them can sell his or her portion of an asset alone; they dispose of it together (Art. 640(2) TMK). That is what the entry "elbirliği mülkiyeti" in the Turkish land registry (tapu) means.

Every heir can ask for division at any time, unless a contract or the law requires the heirs to keep the estate together (Art. 642(1) TMK). There are two ways:

Division by agreement. The heirs sign a partition agreement (paylaşma sözleşmesi). It is valid only in writing (Art. 676(3) TMK). The heirs can also agree to convert the joint ownership into co-ownership in shares (paylı mülkiyet) in proportion to their inheritance shares (Art. 676(2) TMK).
Division by the court. If the heirs cannot agree, any of them can ask the civil court of peace (sulh mahkemesi) to divide the assets in kind or, if that is not possible, by sale (Art. 642(2) TMK). For real estate this is known in practice as a partition lawsuit (ortaklığın giderilmesi davası). For mediation before the lawsuit and the rules on sale, see my article on inherited property in Turkey and the partition lawsuit.

Before the estate is divided, the heirs obtain a certificate of inheritance (mirasçılık belgesi / veraset ilamı) showing who the heirs are. I explain how to obtain one from abroad in the article on the certificate of inheritance in Turkey.

In a will the deceased can provide for a division that differs from the statutory shares. He or she cannot, however, encroach on the reserved share (saklı pay) of the descendants, the parents and the spouse (Articles 505 and 506 TMK). Siblings have no reserved share. An heir whose reserved share has been infringed can bring an action for reduction (tenkis davası). Details are in the article on making a will in Turkey.

If you live in Germany or the Netherlands

From the standpoint of a Turkish court, succession is governed by the national law of the deceased, while Turkish law applies in every case to real estate in Turkey (Art. 20(1) MÖHUK). For a deceased with Turkish citizenship the national law is Turkish law, and that does not change if he or she also held German or Dutch citizenship (Art. 4(1)(b) MÖHUK). The rules on the opening of the succession, the acquisition of the estate and its division, however, are governed by the law of the country where the estate is located (Art. 20(2) MÖHUK). More on this under Article 20 MÖHUK.

In practice this means that a flat or a plot of land in Turkey is divided according to the TMK shares described above. For a bank account or a house in Germany, German authorities apply their own conflict-of-law rules, and for assets in the Netherlands Dutch authorities apply theirs; they may arrive at a different law. For those assets, please consult a lawyer or notary authorised in Germany or the Netherlands.

If you do not want the inheritance, the deadline for renouncing it is three months from the date you learned of the death (Art. 606 TMK). I cover this in the article on renouncing an inheritance in Turkey. Other topics are on the inheritance law page.

Frequently asked questions

One quarter alongside children, one half alongside the parents' order, three quarters alongside the grandparents' order, and the whole estate if none of these heirs exist (Art. 499 TMK). This share is separate from the participation claim under the matrimonial property regime.

Who inherits if the deceased had no children?

The spouse and the parents' order. The spouse takes half, and the other half is divided equally between the mother and father. A parent who has died is replaced by the deceased's siblings (Articles 496 and 499 TMK).

Do siblings inherit under Turkish law?

If the deceased had no children or grandchildren and the mother or father has died, the siblings inherit in place of the deceased parent (Art. 496(2) TMK). Siblings have no reserved share, so a will can exclude them from the inheritance entirely.

What happens if one heir refuses to divide the estate?

Each of the other heirs can ask the civil court of peace for division (Art. 642 TMK). For real estate this is done through a partition lawsuit.

Sources

Questions about your case

If you would like to have your own situation assessed, for example who the heirs to an estate in Turkey are, how the shares are calculated, or how the estate can be divided if the heirs cannot agree, you can choose a time on the appointment page for an online video call, a phone call or a meeting in person in Düsseldorf. You can also send a written question through the contact form. Consultations are held in Turkish and cover only the Turkish-law side of the matter (§ 206 BRAO). It helps to have ready:

the date of death and the citizenships of the deceased,
the certificate of inheritance (veraset ilamı) and the will, if there are any,
a list of the heirs, including the children of any child or sibling who died earlier,
the land registry details of the property in Turkey.

For assets in Germany or the Netherlands, please consult a lawyer or notary authorised in that country.