İzmir Child Custody Lawyer and Personal Contact Cases

In a separation process the most debated topic is usually how the child's care and daily routine will be organised. As an İzmir child custody attorney, we provide legal support in determining custody, in the interim measures to be taken while the case is pending, in regulating personal contact with the child and, where necessary, in requests to change custody.

Custody is both an authority and an obligation granted to parents concerning the child's care, education, health, legal representation and the management of their assets. As long as the marital union continues, this authority is exercised jointly by the spouses. When shared life ends, the judge decides with whom custody will remain and how the other parent will see the child. That decision is not one that rewards or punishes the fault of either party towards the other; the only measure is the child.

Custody disputes in İzmir are heard before the family courts, and files are mostly shaped by the social investigation report, expert interviews and witness statements. Because the emotional burden of the process is high, framing requests from the outset in a measured and document-based way both shortens the proceedings and keeps the child out of the conflict. A custody request is often part of the divorce file; we address the process as a whole under our divorce and family law work. You can find the other fields we work in on our practice areas page.

Best Interests of the Child as the Test for Determining Custody

In Turkish law every decision on custody is bound to the best interests of the child. This test is reflected both in the Turkish Civil Code and in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Türkiye is a party. In practice, best interests means identifying the environment in which the child's physical, mental, emotional and social development can best continue. In making this assessment the judge looks not at a single element but at the whole body of facts.

The assessment headings that recur in these files are as follows:

• The child's age and the nature of their care needs; in the youngest age group continuity and the bond with the caregiver come to the fore.
• Preserving the familiar environment: school, circle of friends, medical follow-up and the possibility of staying together with siblings.
• The time each parent can actually devote to the child, their working pattern and the family support available to them.
• Whether the parent supports the child's relationship with the other parent; an attitude that obstructs contact is assessed unfavourably.
• How the child's health, educational and psychological needs are met, and any special needs.
• The views of a child of sufficient maturity; the statement does not bind the judge but forms part of the best-interests assessment.

A parent's income is not a decisive criterion on its own. Economic shortfall is treated as a gap that child support can close; by contrast, the time devoted to the child's care and the emotional bond formed cannot be substituted. Joint custody is not absolutely prohibited in Turkish law; where a minimum level of communication and cooperation exists between the parties and the child's routine will not suffer, judicial decisions have accepted it as possible. In high-conflict files, however, joint custody is mostly not regarded as serving the child's welfare.

Interim Custody and Precautionary Decisions While the Case Is Pending

The child's life cannot be put on hold the moment a divorce action is filed. The law therefore empowers the judge to take the necessary interim measures on the care and protection of the child during the proceedings, even without a request. In practice three headings are regulated together: which parent holds custody during the case, the days and hours of the other parent's personal contact with the child, and interim child support for the child's expenses.

Precautionary decisions are temporary and may be revised as new information enters the file. Even so, because they determine the factual situation for a long time, framing the right request at the outset matters: in lengthy proceedings the child's settled routine often becomes a fact taken into account in the final judgment too. Interim requests are expected to be supported by medical reports, school records, documents showing working patterns and communication records. We address how interim custody and contact are established, with examples, in our article on interim custody and personal contact.

Where there is a risk to the safety of the child or the parties, protective and preventive measures may additionally be requested under the legislation on the protection of the family. Such decisions may be obtained from the family court and, in cases where delay would be prejudicial, applied through law enforcement and the civil administration. Running these measures alongside the custody file both protects the child and builds a concrete chain of documents in the case.

Establishing Personal Contact: Visitation Days, Handover Place and Expert Report

Personal contact with the child is first and foremost the child's right, not that of the parent who does not hold custody. For this reason, even where the parties agree, the judge reviews whether the arrangement serves the child's welfare. For a contact decision to be workable, the periods, days and handover and return times must be written with a clarity that leaves no room for doubt; vague wording becomes the source of fresh disputes later.

The table below summarises the arrangement headings frequently seen in contact decisions and the points to watch.

The expert report is a decisive document in most contact files. A team of social workers, psychologists and child psychologists presents an assessment following a home visit, interviews with the parents and work with the child. The report does not bind the judge, but if the decision departs from it, reasoning is expected. Submitting objections to the report on time and with concrete facts also grounds any request for a supplementary report or a fresh examination.

Persistent obstruction of contact does not merely disrupt the visitation arrangement; it also constitutes adverse evidence in a request to change custody. It is therefore advisable to record the date, time and any witness for every obstructed visit and to keep messaging and call records. The obligation to contribute to the child's expenses is independent of contact; support payments cannot be stopped on the ground that visits are being prevented. We handle the determination, increase and reduction of support within the scope of our child support work.

Action to Change Custody and Proving Changed Circumstances

A custody decision produces the effect of res judicata only in a limited way: the child's welfare may be reassessed in the face of changed circumstances. The law provides that custody may be changed where new facts, such as a parent moving elsewhere, remarrying or dying, make this necessary. In practice this list is treated as illustrative; what matters is whether a change has arisen since the date of the decision that directly affects the child's welfare.

The grounds most often raised in practice are the custodial parent's failure to care for the child, neglect of educational and medical follow-up, persistent obstruction of contact without justification, an attitude that alienates the child from the other parent, serious illness, prolonged detention, or the child having in fact begun to live with the other parent. Facts already debated and ruled upon during the divorce, however, do not count as new facts and produce no result on their own.

The action is brought before the family court, and as a rule the court of the child's place of residence has jurisdiction. Because custody concerns public order, the judge may investigate without being bound by the requests, order a social investigation and expert report and, if necessary, hear the child again. Allegations are expected to be set out with concrete facts rather than in the abstract: school attendance records, medical reports, police and court records, witness statements and communication records are the principal evidence in these files. In exceptional cases involving serious grounds, removal of custody and the appointment of a guardian for the child may arise.

Enforcing Child Handover Decisions and the Execution Dimension

Since 2022, enforcing judgments on child handover and on establishing personal contact has been removed from the remit of the execution offices. These procedures are now carried out by the judicial support and victim services directorates within the Ministry of Justice, under a procedure specific to child law. The purpose of the change was to move handover away from the logic of an ordinary enforcement proceeding and turn it into a process that respects the child's psychological integrity.

The process begins when the party holding the judgment applies to the directorate. The directorate issues a handover order and notifies the obliged party; the place, day and time of handover are set. Handover is carried out with regard to the environment familiar to the child and, where needed, accompanied by a psychologist, child psychologist or social worker. If the obliged party does not hand the child over, the file advances through the stages provided by law, and where the breach continues the sanctions laid down in law may be applied.

Execution law is not entirely out of the picture in these files. Monetary claims such as the collection of maintenance, litigation costs and attorney fees, as well as the enforcement of other judgments, remain subject to the general rules and are carried out through the execution office; in that respect enforcement of judgments retains its role for the financial consequences of custody files. Detaining a child against the applicable arrangement, or moving them without permission, may require a separate assessment under criminal law.

Change of the Child's Residence and Permission to Travel Abroad

The parent exercising custody may, as a rule, determine the child's place of residence. That power is not unlimited, however: a move that renders a court-ordered contact arrangement unworkable in practice may ground a request to change custody or to re-regulate contact. The party relocating is therefore expected to give advance notice and to propose a visitation schedule adapted to the new distance.

Travel abroad is the heading that causes the most hesitation in practice. Which parent's consent is required for the child's passport procedures and for leaving the country varies according to whether custody is exercised alone or jointly, and according to administrative practice. Confirming the current practice with the relevant authority before planning travel therefore prevents later difficulties. In case of dispute, the family court may be asked for permission for a specific trip or for a precautionary decision prohibiting departure.

Taking a child from their habitual residence to another country without permission, or retaining them there, is the subject of international child abduction law. Türkiye is a party to the international convention on the civil aspects of child abduction, and return requests are conducted by the Ministry of Justice acting as central authority. Timing is critical in such applications; delay may lead to the return request being refused on the ground that the child has settled into the new environment. In files with an international dimension, the process must be followed simultaneously on both the Turkish and the foreign side.

Paternity Action and Establishment of Parentage

Parentage between child and mother arises automatically upon birth. On the father's side, parentage is established through marriage to the mother, through acknowledgement, or by court decision. Custody of a child born outside marriage belongs, as a rule, to the mother. The father may acknowledge the child by a declaration before the registrar or a notary, by an official deed or by will; acknowledgement is a unilateral declaration of intent and cannot be made conditional.

If acknowledgement does not take place, a paternity action is brought. The mother and the child may sue; the action is directed against the father or, if he has died, against his heirs, and is notified to the Treasury and the public prosecutor. It may be filed before or after the birth. The law lays down a preclusive period for the mother's right of action; as regards the child, the application of that period has been shaped by judicial decisions. Because such periods cause loss of rights, the current legislation should be confirmed before applying. We address the details in our guide to the paternity action.

Proof in a paternity action mostly rests on DNA analysis. The parties are under a duty to submit to expert examination; refusal without just cause may be assessed against them by the judge. With a paternity judgment the child may take the father's surname, the status of heir arises, and claims for child support and birth expenses come onto the agenda. The action denying parentage is its counterpart and is subject to separate, short preclusive periods; a legal assessment is therefore advisable as soon as doubt arises.

Adoption and Adoption of a Stepchild

Adoption is the third route by which parentage is established by court decision, and it must serve the child's welfare. For the adoption of minors the law requires that the child has been cared for and raised by the adopter for a certain period, that the adoption serves the child's welfare, and that the welfare of any other children is not inequitably impaired. No adoption decision may be given without the consent of a child capable of discernment.

For spouses to adopt jointly, the law requires a certain duration of marriage or an age condition; adoption by an unmarried person alone is likewise tied to the age condition set by law. A minimum age difference between the adopter and the adoptee, as required by law, is mandatory. As a rule the consent of the child's parents is required, and the situations in which consent is not required are separately regulated. Because the conditions vary with the circumstances, the file should be assessed as a whole before applying.

Adoption of a stepchild is regulated separately: one spouse may adopt the other's child provided the marriage duration or age condition set by law is met. The most common situation in practice is where the child's tie with a biological parent has in fact broken down and the stepparent has been caring for the child for a long time. Before deciding, the court carries out a thorough investigation by hearing those concerned and commissioning a social investigation. With the adoption decision the child acquires the status of heir to the adopter, and the consequences attached to parentage arise.

Grandparents' Request for Personal Contact

The law does not grant the right to request personal contact with a child only to parents. Provided extraordinary circumstances exist and contact suits the child's welfare, that right may also be granted to third parties, particularly relatives. In practice grandparents rely on this provision most often. The request arises in situations such as the death or serious illness of a parent, prolonged residence abroad, or persistent obstruction of contact.

The request is directed to the family court. The court assesses whether a bond already existed between the child and the applicant, how contact will affect the child's daily routine, and whether conflict with the parents will be reflected onto the child. Here too the social investigation report is the principal basis. The contact granted is usually set on a more limited schedule than that given to parents; the aim is to maintain the family bond without disrupting the child's existing routine.