Akkas & Associates is a globally recognized Turkish law firm with a long record of excellence and professional leadership in Istanbul, Turkey. Our inheritance lawyers are prepared to handle your cases for inheritance law in Turkey.
Our lawyers provide advocacy, mediation, and consultancy services regarding the issuance of will and inheritance contracts, execution of inheritance and succession transactions, rejection of inheritance, cancellation of savings, determination of estate, removal, and other inheritance disputes and cases.
Our inheritance lawyer team, within the framework of their experience and knowledge of inheritance law since 1992, provides services such as obtaining a certificate of inheritance, issuing a will, annulment of a will, filing a lawsuit for annulment, and preparing an inheritance waiver agreement.
Our lawyers also provide legal support to their clients in cases of annulment of the certificate of inheritance, refusal of inheritance, filing cases of cancellation, contract of custody until death, inheritance and succession transactions, inheritance tax, litigation, and dissolution of partnership cases.
Turkish inheritance law (Miras) is governed by the Turkish Civil Code and aims to protect the extended family and imposes a reserved portion or statutory share for the benefit of the extended family. It is not possible for the entire property to go to the surviving husband or wife.
Inheritance Law in Turkey
In our law, heirs are divided into two heirs, legal heirs and appointed heirs: Legal Heir: The movable, immovable property and other rights left behind by a person after his death are left to the legal heirs of that person unless otherwise arranged.
legal heirs; blood relatives, adopted children, and descendants of the inheritor and the surviving spouse. Therefore, the legator; His children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, extra-marital relatives, surviving spouse, adopted son, and ultimately the state in case of death without inheritance are legal heirs.
Assigned heir: If the inheritor leaves some or all of his inheritance to a certain person of his own free will, this person is called the appointed heir. In other words, the appointed heir is the person to whom the inheritor leaves his legacy with his own disposition.
Appointed heirship will be possible by issuing a will by the legator in favor of the appointed heir. The regulations regarding the Inheritance Law are included in the Turkish Civil Code No. 4721, and in case of any dispute between the parties, this law and the case law of the Supreme Court should be consulted.
Our Istanbul inheritance lawyer team provides legal services to our clients in obtaining a certificate of inheritance and subsequent transfer proceedings. A certificate of succession is the document obtained by the heirs after the death of the inheritor, showing the heirs and the inheritance shares.
A certificate of inheritance or inheritance certificate can be obtained from the notary public or from the Magistrates’ Courts. However, if there are family ties with a foreign element, a certificate of succession can only be obtained from the Magistrates’ Courts. It is not possible to obtain this document from a notary public.
Since the inheritance shares of the heirs and heirs are shown in the certificate of inheritance, this document will be required for the sharing of the inheritance of the inheritor.
If there is no contrary agreement or situation, transfers will be made at this rate. The certificate of succession is valid until proven otherwise and can be taken at any time. For example, the certificate of inheritance issued at the time of death can be renewed later as a result of one of the heirs’ rejections of the inheritance.
Following the issuance of the certificate of inheritance, the heirs can inherit the immovables in the estate. For this, first of all, the relationship between the legator and the immovable must be cut off. After the inheritance and gift tax is paid at the tax office, transactions will be carried out in the title deed.
Inheritance Tax in Turkey
Anyone inheriting in Turkey must pay an inheritance tax (Veraset Vergisi); the inheritance tax limit is updated annually.
Valuables, which are transferred to Turkish citizens as gifts, donations, or inheritance either in Turkey or abroad, are subject to Turkey’s Inheritance and Property Transfer Tax law. A non-resident who acquires property as an inheritance or gifts owned abroad by a Turkish citizen is not subject to this law. However, a foreigner who is resident in Turkey is subject to the law if they inherit property within Turkey.
Inheritance Tax as it Applies to Foreigners in Turkey
There are two different situations to consider:
- A foreigner married to a Turkish citizen: Foreigners who have Turkish spouses are subject to Turkish law. A foreigner can freely dispose of a limited percentage of assets.
- A foreigner not married to a Turkish citizen: Foreigners are not subject to Turkey’s legislation but to that of their country of origin.
Preparing a Will
Our Istanbul inheritance lawyer team provides legal services to our clients in the preparation of a will and in the cases of will cancellation that may arise afterward. After death, a person may want to regulate the fate of his movable, immovable property or rights and receivables before he dies.
Because the property belonging to the deceased person will be transferred to the heirs according to the rates regulated in the Turkish Civil Code unless they are disposed of in any other way. However, in some cases, a person may request that his property be transferred to heirs or other persons as he wishes, not according to these rates, after his death.
There are two things one can do in this situation. This is to make inheritance contracts by issuing a will. A will in simple terms; is the name given to the text that has been prepared with a unilateral declaration of will to give effect after the death of the inheritor and which contains the information of which property will be left by whom or in what proportion.
In order to make a will, our law seeks to have the power of discernment and to be over the age of fifteen. Apart from this, Article 531 of the Turkish Civil Code; has regulated that wills can be made in three ways, by saying “The will can be made officially or by the handwriting of the legator or verbally”.
Inheritance Law Services
- Obtaining a certificate of inheritance
- Making a will
- Cancellation of Will
- Filing a reduction lawsuit
- Preparation of an inheritance waiver agreement
- Annulment of inheritance certificate
- Filing a lawsuit for denial of inheritance
- Filing lawsuits for bad faith transfer
- Preparing contracts for taking care of till death
- Preparation of inheritance contracts
Reach us for Inheritance Law in Turkey
Akkas & Associates is a solution-oriented law firm that empowers clients to meet the diverse and changing demands of today’s inheritance law. Since 1992, our lawyers have been helping clients with complex legal challenges and maximizing opportunities for success.
Our law firm is now one of the leading inheritance law firms in Istanbul, Turkey. You may reach us for inheritance law in Turkey through our Contact page.
