Estate planning · Turkey
Find an estate planning lawyer in Turkey for your will, your property and your heirs
Turkish succession law protects certain heirs whatever your will says, and land only changes hands when the transfer is registered. Tell us about your situation once and we introduce you to a lawyer who works with these rules routinely.
- Wills and reserved-share reviews
- Land Registry transfers and property
- Cross-border estates and translation
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Estate planning in Turkey
What an estate planning lawyer in Turkey can do for you
If you own a flat, land, a company or family assets in Turkey — or expect to inherit them — the rules deciding who receives what are probably not the ones you know from home. Turkish succession law protects children, parents and the surviving spouse through reserved shares, ownership of immovable property passes only on registration at the Land Registry, and court files are drafted in Turkish. An estate planning lawyer in Turkey can test your plans against those rules before anything is signed or transferred. Describe your circumstances in a few minutes and we match you with a lawyer who handles wills, reserved shares, matrimonial property and cross-border succession — at no cost to you.
The Turkish framework
How estate planning works under Turkish law
Turkey is a codified civil-law jurisdiction whose private law was received from the Swiss codes, so succession and property questions are answered by statute and by the Court of Cassation’s unifying interpretation. These are the features that most often shape a family’s planning.
Reserved shares restrict what a will can achieve
Turkish succession law does not leave everything to the will. Descendants keep one half of their statutory share, parents one quarter where there are no descendants, and the surviving spouse keeps the whole statutory share when inheriting alongside descendants or parents, or three quarters otherwise (Civil Code No. 4721, Article 506). Heirs whose reserved share is infringed may bring a reduction action.
Property moves only through the Land Registry
Ownership of land, a house or a flat does not pass by signing a contract. A transfer is valid only as an official deed (resmi senet) executed before the Land Registry directorate, and ownership passes on registration (Civil Code No. 4721, Article 705). Notaries do not handle real-property conveyancing in Turkey, so the Land Registry step is coordinated directly.
The matrimonial property regime shapes the estate
For marriages celebrated since 1 January 2002 the statutory regime is participation in acquired property (edinilmiş mallara katılma). Property acquired for consideration during the marriage is divided on dissolution, while personal and pre-marital assets stay outside. Spouses may choose separation, community or shared participation by a marriage property agreement executed before a notary — decisive where divorce and succession overlap.
Renouncing an inheritance has a short window
An heir who does not wish to take an estate may renounce the inheritance, but the period is short: three months. Because that decision interacts with reserved shares, with any will and with property already transferred, it should be reviewed early with a lawyer rather than left until the period has run out.
Language, certified translation and the apostille
Turkish is the sole official language of the courts, and filings, hearings and judgments are in Turkish. Foreign-language documents must be accompanied by a certified translation, and foreign public documents generally need an apostille, Turkey being a party to the Hague Apostille Convention. A lawyer builds the file so it is not rejected on formal grounds.
Court fees and the annual minimum fee tariff
Court fees follow the Fees Law (No. 492): a proportional judgment-and-decision fee of 68.31 per thousand of the amount in dispute, one quarter of it paid on filing, plus a fixed application fee, with rates adjusted annually. Lawyers’ fees are freely agreed between lawyer and client but cannot fall below the minimum tariff published each year by the Union of Turkish Bar Associations.
Key time limit — Inheritance, Probate & Wills
Renunciation of inheritance — 3 months. An heir who wishes to refuse an estate must act inside this window.
Every country-specific statement above is taken from official Turkish legislation published on mevzuat.gov.tr, as in force at the time of writing.
- Turkish Civil Code No. 4721 (succession, reserved shares, property, matrimonial regimes)
- Constitution of 1982, Article 3 (Turkish as the language of the State and the courts)
- Fees Law No. 492 (court fees and advance payments)
- Attorneyship Law No. 1136 (compulsory Bar membership and the minimum fee tariff)
Common situations
Where Turkish succession rules surprise families
Most problems we hear about start long before a dispute: a will drafted abroad, a property left unregistered, or a decision taken after a deadline has already passed.
A will drafted abroad
A will that leaves everything to one child, or to a new partner, can collide with the reserved shares that Turkish law guarantees to descendants, parents and the surviving spouse. The document needs to be reviewed against Article 506 before it is relied on.
Property promised but never registered
Families often assume that a signed contract or a family understanding transfers a flat. In Turkey ownership passes only when the transfer is registered at the Land Registry, so unregistered arrangements leave the estate in the name of the deceased.
Decisions taken after the deadline
Renunciation of an inheritance runs for three months, and an appeal against a first-instance judgment for two weeks from notification. When families wait, options that existed at the start quietly disappear before anyone speaks to a lawyer.
How we help
From a first question to the right lawyer
You do not need to know which area of law applies or how to describe it in Turkish legal terms; that is the lawyer’s work.
Matched to the right specialisation
We route your enquiry to lawyers who work on succession, wills, reserved shares and property transfers in Turkey, so you are not explaining a cross-border estate to a general practitioner.
A first step that costs nothing
Describing your situation and being matched carries no fee and no obligation. You decide afterwards whether to instruct the lawyer, and on what terms.
Lawyers admitted to a Turkish Bar
Bar membership is compulsory to practise in Turkey, and every lawyer is entered in a Bar register and licensed with a ruhname. We match you with lawyers who practise within that framework.
Cross-border by design
Your file may involve documents in another language, an apostille, a foreign will or a spouse living abroad. We look for lawyers used to coordinating those elements rather than treating them as an afterthought.
Cross-border estates
Clients with Turkish assets often get in touch from
Turkish succession and property rules apply to assets situated in Turkey whatever your nationality or country of residence, which is why most enquiries we handle have a second jurisdiction attached.
Questions
Estate planning in Turkey: frequent questions
Can I leave my Turkish property to whoever I want?
Not entirely. Turkish law reserves a protected portion for certain heirs: descendants keep one half of their statutory share, parents one quarter where there are no descendants, and the surviving spouse keeps the whole statutory share alongside descendants or parents, or three quarters otherwise. Siblings and more distant relatives have no reserved share and may be excluded.
Do I need a separate Turkish will if I already have one at home?
That depends on your situation, and an estate planning lawyer in Turkey will assess the will you have against Turkish succession rules and the formal requirements that apply to assets here. What is certain is that court documents must be in Turkish, so foreign-language papers need a certified translation, and foreign public documents generally require an apostille.
How is a house or land actually transferred in Turkey?
Only by an official deed (resmi senet) executed before the Land Registry directorate, with ownership passing on registration. Notaries do not carry out conveyancing of immovable property in Turkey, so a lawyer arranges the Land Registry appointment and checks the position of the property in the register beforehand.
What does an estate planning lawyer in Turkey cost?
Fees are freely agreed between you and the lawyer, but they may not fall below the minimum tariff that the Union of Turkish Bar Associations publishes each year. If court proceedings follow, the Fees Law sets a proportional judgment-and-decision fee of 68.31 per thousand of the amount in dispute, one quarter payable on filing, plus a fixed application fee.
Does my marriage affect who inherits?
It can. For marriages celebrated since 1 January 2002 the statutory regime is participation in acquired property, so property acquired for consideration during the marriage may be divided on dissolution. Spouses can instead choose separation, community or shared participation through an agreement executed before a notary, which is a central question in cross-border cases.
Can I refuse an inheritance in Turkey?
Yes, but the window is three months. Renunciation is a formal step, and because it interacts with reserved shares, with any will and with property already transferred within the family, it should be reviewed by a lawyer early rather than decided at the end of the period.
Next step
Tell us what you own, and who you want to protect
A few clear details about your property, your family and any will already in place are enough to start. We match you with an estate planning lawyer in Turkey at no cost, and you decide whether to go further.