Making a will in Turkey: forms, reserved shares, deadlines

Under Turkish law a will (vasiyetname) can be made in three forms: an official will, a will in the testator's own handwriting, or an oral will (Article 531 of the Turkish Civil Code No. 4721, Türk Medeni Kanunu). If you write it yourself, the rule is short: write the whole text by hand, state the year, month and day, and sign it (Art. 538).

Who can make a will, and how to write a handwritten will

You can make a will if you have the capacity to judge (ayırt etme gücü) and have turned fifteen (Art. 502). You do not need to be of full age; that is required for an inheritance contract (Art. 503). A disposition made under mistake, fraud, threat or duress is invalid. It becomes valid, however, if the testator does not revoke it within one year of discovering the mistake or being freed from the pressure (Art. 504).

Article 538(1) sets the form requirements for a handwritten will:

the whole text is written by the testator by hand, from beginning to end,
the year, month and day it was made are stated,
the testator signs it.

No witnesses and no notarisation are needed. A text typed on a computer and only signed, or a text dictated to someone else, does not meet this requirement, because the law asks for the testator's handwriting throughout.

I would not copy "will templates" found online. The law prescribes no wording; what matters is the form and that your wishes are clear. You can appoint someone as heir to all or a share of your estate (Art. 516), or leave a specific asset to someone without making them an heir (Art. 517). Say clearly which one you mean, and identify property in Türkiye by its land registry details (province, district, block and parcel; il, ilçe, ada, parsel). This is not a legal requirement but my own assessment; it avoids disputes over interpretation later.

You can hand a handwritten will, open or sealed, to a notary, a civil court of peace judge (sulh hâkimi) or another authorised official for safekeeping (Art. 538(2)). This is optional, but a will kept at home may not be found after death. Turkish notaries notify the civil registry office where the testator is registered of the wills they hold, so that they are informed of a death (Article 69 of the Notaries Act No. 1512, Noterlik Kanunu).

Official will: at a notary or a Turkish consulate

An official will is drawn up by a public official with two witnesses present. The official can be a civil court of peace judge, a notary or another official authorised by law (Art. 532). You tell the official your wishes, the official writes the text, you read and sign it, and the official signs and dates it (Art. 533). You then declare to two witnesses, in the official's presence, that the text contains your last wishes. The witnesses confirm in writing that the declaration was made before them and that they considered you capable. They do not need to know the content (Art. 534).

If you cannot read or sign, the official reads the text to you in front of two witnesses (Art. 535). Your spouse, ascendants and descendants, siblings and their spouses, and anyone who cannot read and write may not take part. Nothing may be left in that will to the official, the witnesses or their relatives (Art. 536). The official keeps the original (Art. 537).

Abroad, notarial matters are handled by consuls (Notaries Act, Art. 191). Article 193 makes Article 60 (notaries' duties) and Article 69 (safekeeping of wills) apply to consuls as well. It follows that an official will can be made at a Turkish consulate and a handwritten will can be deposited there. This is my own conclusion from the text of the law; I could not confirm in an official source how consulates handle this in practice (appointments, documents). Ask your consulate before you go. Officials performing notarial duties abroad may not charge a notary fee (Notaries Act, Art. 194); ask the consulate whether any charges (harç) apply.

Oral will

An oral will is an exception. It is only allowed if, because of extraordinary circumstances such as imminent danger of death, interrupted transport, illness or war, the testator cannot make an official or handwritten will. The testator tells two witnesses their last wishes (Art. 539). The witnesses write them down at once with place and date, sign, and promptly hand the document to a civil court of peace or court of first instance (Art. 540). If the testator later becomes able to use another form, the oral will lapses one month after that date (Art. 541).

Reserved shares: how much can you leave freely?

If your heirs include descendants, parents or a spouse, you can only dispose of the part of your estate outside their reserved shares (saklı pay). If none of these heirs exist, you can dispose of the whole estate (Art. 505). The reserved shares under Article 506 are:

descendants: half of their statutory share,
each parent: a quarter of their statutory share,
surviving spouse: the whole statutory share when inheriting with descendants or the parents' line, otherwise three quarters.

Siblings have no reserved share; the provision for siblings was repealed in 2007 by Law No. 5650.

A will that exceeds the available portion is not automatically invalid. An heir who does not receive the reserved share can bring an action for abatement (tenkis davası) (Art. 560). It must be brought within one year of learning that the reserved share was infringed and in any case within ten years of the will being opened (Art. 571).

How long is a will valid, and how do you revoke it?

The law sets no period of validity. Your will stays valid until you revoke it; the fact that it was written many years ago is not a problem in itself. The exception is the oral will, which can lapse after one month (Art. 541).

You can revoke a will in three ways:

by making a new will in one of the legal forms, in whole or in part (Art. 542),
by destroying it (Art. 543(1)),
by making a later will without cancelling the earlier one: the later will replaces it unless it clearly only supplements it. A legacy of a specific asset also ends if you later dispose of that asset in a way that is inconsistent with it, for example by selling it, unless the will says otherwise (Art. 544).

A will destroyed by accident or through a third party's fault has no effect if its content cannot be established exactly and completely (Art. 543(2)).

After death: opening, execution and the annulment action

Any will found after death must be handed to the civil court of peace judge at once, whether valid or not. Anyone who keeps or finds a will and fails to do so is liable for the resulting damage (Art. 595). The judge of the testator's place of residence opens the will within one month of receiving it and reads it to those concerned; known heirs are invited (Art. 596). Each beneficiary is served a certified copy of the parts that concern them (Art. 597).

The phrase "vasiyetnamenin tenfizi" (enforcement of a will), often searched in Turkish, does not appear in the Civil Code. The Code covers this stage as the opening of the will (Art. 596) and its execution. The testator can appoint an executor (vasiyeti yerine getirme görevlisi) (Art. 550). A legatee claims against the executor or, if there is none, against the heirs (Art. 600). Appointed heirs and legatees can obtain a certificate from the civil court of peace if no objection is raised within one month of notification (Art. 598(2)).

A will can be challenged in an annulment action (iptal davası) on four grounds: lack of capacity, defective consent, content contrary to law or morality, or failure to follow the legal form (Art. 557). So even a formal defect does not make the will void by itself; an heir or legatee with an interest has to sue (Art. 558). The action must be brought within one year of the claimant learning of the disposition, the ground for annulment and their own entitlement, and in any case within ten years of the opening against defendants acting in good faith and twenty years against those acting in bad faith (Art. 559(1)). Invalidity can always be raised as a defence (Art. 559(2)). For appointed heirs the deadline to renounce also starts differently; see my article on renouncing an inheritance in Turkey.

If you live in Germany or the Netherlands

From the standpoint of a Turkish court, the form of a disposition upon death is governed by Article 7 of Law No. 5718 on Private International Law and International Civil Procedure (MÖHUK); a disposition that complies with the deceased's national law is also valid (MÖHUK Art. 20(4)). Capacity to make a will is governed by the national law at the time it is made (Art. 20(5)). For a Turkish citizen, even a dual national, the national law is Turkish law (Art. 4(1)(b)). A will that complies with Article 538 of the Civil Code is therefore formally valid in Türkiye even if you wrote it in Germany or the Netherlands. More on this under Article 7 MÖHUK.

The German Civil Code lists a will recorded by a notary and a handwritten declaration under § 2247 as the ordinary forms (§ 2231 BGB). The Netherlands is different: according to the Dutch government's website, a will can only be made through a notary, and a will you write yourself is not legally valid there. How German or Dutch authorities treat a will that is valid under Turkish law is a question of their own law; please ask a notary or lawyer authorised in that country. Other topics are on the inheritance law page.

Frequently asked questions

How long is a will valid in Turkey?

There is no time limit in the law. A will is valid until the testator revokes it (Art. 542–544). An oral will can lapse after one month (Art. 541).

Does a handwritten will need to be notarised?

No. A text written entirely by hand, dated with year, month and day, and signed is enough (Art. 538(1)). Depositing it with a notary is optional.

What is the deadline for challenging a will in Turkey?

One year from learning of the disposition, the ground for annulment and your entitlement; at most ten years after opening against good-faith defendants and twenty years against bad-faith defendants (Art. 559).

Can I make a Turkish will at a Turkish consulate?

Under Articles 191 and 193 of the Notaries Act, consuls perform notarial duties abroad; in the author's view it follows that an official will can also be made at a consulate, although no provision says so expressly. Ask your consulate about the practice.

Sources

Questions about your case

If you would like to check whether your will meets the form requirements and reserved-share limits of Turkish law for your assets in Türkiye, or what you can do, and by when, about a will that has been served on you, you can choose a time on the appointment page for an online video call, a phone call or a meeting in Düsseldorf. You can also send a written question through the contact form. Consultations are held in Turkish and cover Turkish law only. It helps to have ready:

a draft or copy of the will and where it is kept,
a list of your statutory heirs (spouse, children, parents),
the land registry details of your property in Türkiye,
if the will has already been opened, the dates of opening and service.

For how the will is assessed under German or Dutch law, please contact a notary or lawyer authorised in that country.