Inheritance Law in Turkey for Foreigners: Heirs, Wills and Property

When a foreigner dies owning real estate in Turkey (Türkiye), Turkish inheritance law decides who inherits that property and in what shares, whatever the foreigner's nationality and whatever their will says about the rest of their estate. Succession is otherwise governed by the national law of the deceased, but immovable property located in Turkey is subject to Turkish law (Law No. 5718, Art. 20(1)). Under Turkish law the children inherit equally, the surviving spouse takes one quarter alongside them, and children, parents and the spouse have reserved shares that a will cannot remove. Heirs have three months to reject an inheritance.

This guide explains which law applies, who the statutory heirs are and what they receive, how far a will can change that, how heirs obtain title to Turkish assets, and how debts and taxes are handled.

• Applicable law: the deceased's national law; but Turkish law for immovables in Turkey (Law No. 5718, Art. 20(1)).
• First-degree heirs: descendants, in equal shares (Civil Code, Art. 495).
• Surviving spouse: one quarter with descendants; one half with the parental line; three quarters with grandparents' line; otherwise the whole (Art. 499).
• Reserved shares: descendants half of their statutory share; each parent a quarter; the spouse the whole of the statutory share when inheriting with descendants or parents, otherwise three quarters (Art. 506).
• Wills: official, handwritten or — in emergencies — oral (Art. 531).
• Rejection: within three months, by declaration to the civil court of peace (Art. 606, 609).
• No heirs: the estate passes to the State (Art. 501).

Legal status of this guide. It reflects the Turkish Civil Code (No. 4721), Law No. 5718 and the Land Registry Law (No. 2644) as currently in force. Tax rates, exemptions and filing periods are set by tax legislation and revised annually. Last updated: October 2026.

In this guide

• Which country's law applies
• Statutory heirs and their shares
• Worked examples
• Reserved shares: the limits of a will
• Making a will that works in Turkey
• How heirs obtain the assets
• Debts and rejecting the inheritance
• Foreign heirs and the property rules
• The surviving spouse: property regime first
• Inheritance tax
• Frequently asked questions

Which country's law applies

Article 20 of the Act on Private International and Procedural Law sets out the rules:

Question	Governing law
Succession in general	The national law of the deceased (Art. 20(1))
Immovable property located in Turkey	Turkish law (Art. 20(1))
Grounds for the opening of succession, acquisition and partition of the estate	The law of the country where the estate is located (Art. 20(2))
An estate in Turkey with no heirs	Passes to the State (Art. 20(3))
Form of a will	Valid if it complies with the form rules of the place where it was made or with the testator's national law (Art. 20(4), Art. 7)
Capacity to make a will	The testator's national law at the time the will was made (Art. 20(5))

The result for a foreign owner is a split estate:

• A house, apartment or land in Turkey — Turkish rules on heirs, shares and reserved shares apply.
• Bank accounts, vehicles, company shares and other movables in Turkey — the deceased's national law decides who inherits, while the Turkish authorities and courts handle the practical steps of opening the succession and handing over the assets.
• Assets abroad — outside Turkish law.

A person who holds both Turkish and another nationality is treated as Turkish for these purposes, so Turkish law governs the whole succession from the Turkish point of view. International treaties to which Turkey is a party take precedence where they apply.

Statutory heirs and their shares

Turkish law groups blood relatives into three lines (parentelas); a nearer line excludes the more remote.

1. Descendants. The first-degree heirs are the deceased's descendants. Children inherit equally; the place of a child who died earlier is taken by that child's own descendants (Art. 495).
2. Parents and their descendants. If there are no descendants, the heirs are the mother and father, equally; the place of a predeceased parent is taken by that parent's descendants — the deceased's siblings, nieces and nephews (Art. 496).
3. Grandparents and their descendants. If there are no descendants, parents or descendants of parents, the grandparents inherit equally, with their descendants — uncles, aunts, cousins — taking the place of those who predeceased (Art. 497).

Children born out of wedlock whose descent has been established by acknowledgement or judgment inherit from the father's side like children born in wedlock (Art. 498). An adopted child and their descendants inherit from the adopter like blood relatives, and remain heirs in their own family; the adopter does not inherit from the adopted child (Art. 500).

The surviving spouse inherits together with whichever line is called (Art. 499):

Spouse inherits together with	Spouse's share	Remainder
Descendants	1/4	3/4 to the descendants
Parents or their descendants	1/2	1/2 to that line
Grandparents and their children	3/4	1/4 to that line
None of the above	The whole estate	—

A divorced spouse is not an heir, and loses rights under a will made before the divorce unless the will shows otherwise (Art. 181). An unmarried partner, or a partner in a purely religious marriage, has no statutory inheritance right at all. If there is no heir, the estate passes to the State (Art. 501).

Worked examples

These examples concern an apartment in Turkey owned solely by the deceased and assume no will. They leave aside the surviving spouse's separate claim under the matrimonial property regime.

• Spouse and two children. Spouse 1/4; each child 3/8.
• Two children, no spouse. Each child 1/2.
• Spouse, no children, both parents alive. Spouse 1/2; each parent 1/4.
• Spouse, no children, parents deceased, one sister. Spouse 1/2; sister 1/2.
• Unmarried, no children, mother alive, father deceased leaving a brother. Mother 1/2; brother 1/2.
• Spouse only; no descendants, parents, siblings, grandparents or their children. Spouse takes everything.

Reserved shares: the limits of a will

A person who leaves descendants, parents or a spouse may dispose by will only of the part of the estate outside the reserved shares; if none of those heirs exists, the whole estate may be disposed of (Art. 505). The reserved shares are (Art. 506):

Heir	Reserved share
Descendants	One half of the statutory share
Each parent	One quarter of the statutory share
Surviving spouse, when inheriting with descendants or with the parental line	The whole of the statutory share
Surviving spouse, in other cases	Three quarters of the statutory share

Siblings have had no reserved share since 2007.

Example. A deceased leaves a spouse and two children. Statutory shares: spouse 1/4, children 3/4. Reserved: spouse 1/4 (the whole), children 3/8 (half of 3/4). The freely disposable part is 3/8. A will leaving the Turkish apartment entirely to a friend, or entirely to one child, exceeds that part.

A disposition that infringes a reserved share is not void automatically. The heir whose share is infringed must bring an action for reduction (tenkis) within the statutory time limit; if nobody sues, the will stands. A testator may disinherit a reserved heir only on the narrow grounds the Code provides, such as a serious crime against the testator or a serious breach of family duties.

For foreigners the practical point is this: freedom of testation under your own law does not extend to your Turkish real estate. A will valid at home may be reducible in Turkey as far as that property is concerned.

Making a will that works in Turkey

A testator may dispose of all or part of their estate, within the limits of testamentary freedom, by will or by inheritance contract; whatever is not disposed of passes to the statutory heirs (Art. 514). Capacity to make a will under Turkish law requires capacity of judgment and the age of fifteen (Art. 502); for a foreigner, capacity follows their national law.

Forms of will under Turkish law (Art. 531):

• Official will — drawn up by an official (a notary, a judge of the civil court of peace or another authorised officer) with the participation of two witnesses (Art. 532). This is the most secure form: the notary checks identity and capacity, an interpreter is used if the testator does not speak Turkish, and the will is kept and registered.
• Handwritten will — written entirely in the testator's own hand, stating the year, month and day, and signed (Art. 538). No witnesses are needed, and it may be deposited with a notary or court. A typed and signed document is not a valid handwritten will.
• Oral will — only in extraordinary circumstances such as imminent danger of death, before two witnesses.

Foreign wills. A will made abroad is valid as to form in Turkey if it meets the form requirements of the place where it was made or of the testator's national law (Law No. 5718, Art. 20(4), Art. 7). It will, however, need to be produced in Turkey with apostille and sworn translation, opened by the Turkish court, and — for Turkish real estate — measured against Turkish substantive rules.

Practical recommendations:

• make a separate Turkish will, before a Turkish notary, limited to your assets in Turkey;
• state expressly that it does not revoke your will at home, and have your home will say the same about the Turkish one;
• keep within the disposable portion, or accept that reserved heirs may claim reduction;
• name the properties by their land registry details;
• review the will after marriage, divorce or the birth of a child.

How heirs obtain the assets

1. Death certificate. If death occurred in Turkey, it is recorded by the civil registry; if abroad, the foreign death certificate is needed with apostille and sworn translation.
2. Opening of any will. A will found after death is delivered to the civil court of peace, which opens it and notifies those concerned.
3. Certificate of inheritance (mirasçılık belgesi, also called veraset ilamı). This document states who the heirs are and their shares. For Turkish citizens it can be issued by a notary or the civil court of peace. Where the deceased is a foreigner, an application to the court is the normal route, since foreign civil status records and, for movables, foreign law have to be established. The heirs submit the death certificate, documents proving kinship — birth and marriage certificates, family register extracts — all with apostille and translation, and the title deed details.
4. Foreign certificates. Transfers of real estate to the heirs of foreign individuals are made on the basis of a certificate of inheritance issued by a Turkish court, or issued by the competent authority of the deceased's own country and confirmed by a Turkish court as conforming to the provisions of Turkish law on succession (Land Registry Law, Art. 37).
5. Tax declaration to the tax office (see below).
6. Land registry. With the certificate of inheritance, the heirs apply to the land registry directorate for registration in their names. At first they are registered as joint owners of the whole (elbirliği mülkiyeti), which requires them to act together; this can be converted into co-ownership by defined shares, and the property can then be partitioned or sold by agreement or, failing that, through a court action for dissolution of the co-ownership.
7. Bank accounts and other assets are released to the heirs on presentation of the certificate of inheritance and the tax clearance.

Heirs who are abroad can do all of this through a lawyer under a power of attorney issued at a Turkish consulate, or before a foreign notary with apostille and translation.

Debts and rejecting the inheritance

Under Turkish law the estate passes to the heirs as a whole at the moment of death, with its debts. Heirs who accept are liable for the deceased's debts with their own assets, not only with what they inherited. The protection against an over-indebted estate is rejection.

• Who may reject. Statutory and appointed heirs (Art. 605(1)).
• Deemed rejection. If, at the date of death, the deceased's insolvency was evident or officially established, the inheritance is deemed rejected (Art. 605(2)).
• Time limit. Three months. For statutory heirs it runs from the date they learned of the death, unless they prove that they learned of their status as heirs later; for heirs appointed by will, from the date the disposition was officially notified to them (Art. 606).
• How. By oral or written declaration to the civil court of peace, unconditionally and without reservation. The court records it and, on request, issues a document confirming the rejection (Art. 609).
• Loss of the right. An heir who does not reject within the period acquires the inheritance unconditionally. So does an heir who, before the period ends, intermeddles in the estate as an heir, carries out acts beyond ordinary administration, or conceals or appropriates estate assets (Art. 610).
• Passing on. If an heir dies without having rejected, the right passes to that heir's own heirs (Art. 608).

Before taking anything from the estate — selling the car, withdrawing money, collecting rent — find out what the deceased owed: bank loans, tax, enforcement files, guarantees. Three months pass quickly when the heirs are abroad and documents have to be translated. The Code also provides for an official inventory of the estate and for acceptance limited by that inventory, which can be requested within the period where the position is unclear.

Foreign heirs and the property rules

Foreign individuals may acquire real estate in Turkey only if their country is among those designated and within the statutory limits — 30 hectares per person nationwide and 10 per cent of the privately owned area of a district; see can foreigners buy property in Turkey? The same framework applies to acquisition by inheritance. Real estate acquired by inheritance outside those limits must be disposed of by the owner within the period, not exceeding one year, set by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance; otherwise it is liquidated and the proceeds paid to the person entitled (Land Registry Law, Art. 35(6)).

The heir therefore does not lose the value of the inheritance, but may not be able to keep the property itself. An heir in this position should plan the sale rather than wait for a compulsory one.

The surviving spouse: property regime first

The death of a spouse ends the matrimonial property regime, and that regime is liquidated before the estate is divided. Under the Turkish default regime of participation in acquired property, the surviving spouse is entitled to half of the surplus value of what the deceased acquired for value during the marriage. Only what remains forms the estate, in which the spouse then takes the inheritance share described above.

In addition, the surviving spouse can ask that ownership — or, where justified, a right of use or residence — of the family home and household goods be allocated to them on account of their claims, so that they are not forced out of the home. Which law governs the property regime of an international couple is decided by a separate rule; see matrimonial property and prenuptial agreements in Turkey.

Inherited property in Turkey, or planning your own estate? Tell us the deceased's or your nationality, the heirs and the Turkish assets involved. Message Yayla Law on WhatsApp or use the contact form. If a death has occurred, mention the date: the three-month period for rejection may be running.

Inheritance tax

• Inheritance and gift tax is payable in Turkey on assets located in Turkey that pass by inheritance, including to foreign heirs.
• The heirs file a declaration with the tax office within a period that depends on where the death occurred and where the heirs are — several months, and longer when the heirs are abroad.
• The tax is charged at progressive rates on each heir's share above an exemption that is higher for spouses and children; the brackets and exemptions are revised every year. Real estate is assessed on its official tax value.
• The tax is paid in instalments over several years, but the land registry and banks require proof that the tax relating to the asset has been dealt with before a transfer or release.
• Tax may also arise in the heir's country of residence; double-taxation relief depends on that country's rules and on any treaty.

Frequently asked questions

Which law applies to the inheritance of a foreigner's property in Turkey?

Turkish law applies to immovable property located in Turkey. For other assets, succession is governed by the national law of the deceased, while the procedures for opening the succession and distributing the estate follow the law of the place where the assets are.

Who inherits under Turkish law if there is no will?

The descendants, in equal shares, together with the surviving spouse, who takes one quarter. Without descendants, the parents or their descendants inherit, with the spouse taking one half; then the grandparents' line, with the spouse taking three quarters. If there are none of these, the spouse takes everything.

Can I leave my Turkish property to anyone I choose?

Only within the disposable portion. Descendants, parents and the surviving spouse have reserved shares. A will that exceeds the disposable portion remains valid unless a reserved heir brings an action for reduction.

Is a foreign will valid in Turkey?

As to form, yes, if it complies with the law of the place where it was made or with the testator's national law. Its provisions on real estate in Turkey are nevertheless subject to Turkish rules, including reserved shares. A separate Turkish will for Turkish assets is advisable.

How do heirs transfer property in Turkey into their names?

They obtain a certificate of inheritance from a Turkish court, or have a foreign certificate confirmed by a Turkish court, file the inheritance tax declaration, and apply to the land registry directorate for registration.

Can I refuse an inheritance in Turkey?

Yes, within three months of learning of the death, by an unconditional declaration to the civil court of peace. An heir who does not reject in time, or who deals with the estate as an owner, acquires it together with its debts.

Are heirs liable for the deceased's debts?

Yes. Heirs who accept are liable with their own assets. If the deceased was evidently insolvent at death the inheritance is deemed rejected; otherwise the heirs must reject within three months to avoid liability.

Does an unmarried partner inherit in Turkey?

No. Only a spouse in a civil marriage is a statutory heir. An unmarried or religiously married partner inherits only if named in a will, and then only within the disposable portion.

Can a foreign heir keep inherited real estate in Turkey?

Yes, if their nationality is permitted to own property and the statutory limits are respected. Property inherited outside those limits must be sold within the period set by the authorities, failing which it is liquidated and the proceeds paid to the heir.

Legal basis and sources

• Turkish Civil Code No. 4721, Articles 181, 495–506, 514, 531–538 and 605–610 — official consolidated text at mevzuat.gov.tr.
• Act on Private International and Procedural Law No. 5718, Article 20.
• Land Registry Law No. 2644, Articles 35 and 37.
• Inheritance and Gift Tax Law No. 7338.

This article provides general legal information on Turkish law as of October 2026. It is not legal or tax advice. The interaction between Turkish law and the law of your own country should be reviewed for your specific estate.