İzmir Inheritance Lawyer and Certificate of Inheritance Procedures

As an İzmir inheritance lawyer, we provide legal support at every stage of the process, from obtaining the certificate of inheritance to the actual division of the estate. Inheritance law governs to whom, in what proportion and by what procedure a person's assets pass upon death; in practice it usually requires family relationships, land registry transfers made years earlier and a text left in handwriting to be assessed together.

The succession opens automatically upon the death of the deceased, and the heirs acquire the estate as a whole. At this stage joint ownership in undivided shares arises among the heirs: no heir may dispose of a particular asset in the estate alone, and decisions are as a rule taken unanimously. A significant part of the disputes seen in practice arises precisely at this stage of joint ownership. Situations such as one heir occupying an immovable, rental income being collected by a single person, or a bank account remaining blocked are problems that need to be resolved before the division is completed.

In İzmir, inheritance files are mostly shared between the civil courts of peace and the civil courts of first instance; the certificate of inheritance and the dissolution of joint ownership are heard by the former, abatement and annulment of wills by the latter. Where the estate includes immovable property, the mandatory venue rules relating to the court of the place where the property is located are also taken into account. Alongside inheritance files, you can see the other fields we work in on our practice areas page.

How to Obtain a Certificate of Inheritance: The Notary and Court Routes

The certificate of inheritance is the document showing who the heirs are and the share of each. Almost every subsequent step depends on it: registering an immovable in the land registry in the names of the heirs, accessing bank accounts, transferring a vehicle and filing the inheritance and transfer tax return. The first step of the succession process is therefore usually to obtain this certificate.

The certificate may be obtained by two routes. Where the population registry records suffice to establish heirship, an application may be made to a notary, who examines the registry system and issues the document, usually the same day. The situations in which the notary cannot issue it are equally clear in law and practice: where an heir is a foreign national, where the registry records do not suffice to establish heirship, where the status of heirship is disputed, and where the deceased left a will. In such cases an application is made to the civil court of peace at the deceased's last place of residence.

The certificate of inheritance does not have the force of res judicata. If the list of heirs or the shares it records do not reflect reality, its annulment may be sought, and its invalidity may be asserted at any time. In practice this route is most often used where a child born outside marriage is later recognised, where an adoption relationship has been overlooked, or where an heir living abroad has not been entered in the records. If nothing has been heard from the deceased for a long time, a declaration of absence must be obtained before the certificate of inheritance; we examine how that process works in our article on the declaration of absence.

Once the certificate of inheritance has been obtained, the inheritance and transfer tax return must be filed with the relevant tax office within the period set by law. Because the exemption amounts and the tax tariff are redetermined every year, those figures are not stated here; the current values must be confirmed at the time of the application before the return is prepared. If the scope of the estate is unclear, requesting a determination of the estate from the civil court of peace before filing produces an official inventory of the assets and debts.

Statutory Heirship, the Class System and the Position of the Surviving Spouse

The Turkish Civil Code builds statutory heirship on a system of classes. The first class consists of the deceased's descendants: the children, or the grandchildren if the children are no longer living. The second class is made up of the deceased's parents and their descendants, that is the deceased's siblings and their children. The third class comprises the grandparents and their descendants, among them uncles and aunts. The basic rule of the system is simple: as long as a single heir exists in an earlier class, the following class does not inherit.

Within a class the principle of representation applies. The share of a child who died before the deceased does not automatically pass to the other children; that child's own descendants, the deceased's grandchildren, take their parent's share per stirpes. To take a concrete example: if one of the deceased's children predeceased them leaving two children, the surviving children take their own shares directly, while the two children of the deceased child claim no independent share of the estate and instead divide between them the share that would have fallen to their father. An adopted child and their descendants inherit in the same way as descendants by blood; the adopter, however, does not inherit from the adopted child even though the adopted child inherits from the adopter.

The surviving spouse holds a share that varies according to the class of heirs alongside whom they inherit, and does not belong to any of the classes. The table below summarises the spouse's position and among whom the remainder is distributed; the applicable rates are set out in the Turkish Civil Code and the current text at mevzuat.gov.tr should be taken as the basis.

The spouse's inheritance share and the claim arising from the liquidation of the marital property regime are two separate items and must not be confused. Death is one of the causes that end the marriage; the property regime is therefore liquidated first, so that the spouse's participation claim and personal assets are separated from the estate, and only then are the inheritance shares calculated on what remains. Where this order is not observed, the surviving spouse's entitlement is in effect understated. We carry out the detailed assessment of the liquidation of the property regime on the matrimonial property division side.

The estate of a person who dies without heirs passes to the State. A divorced spouse loses the status of heir once the divorce judgment becomes final; if, however, one of the spouses dies while divorce proceedings are pending, the surviving spouse may cease to be an heir where the continuing heirs prove the merits of the claim. Engagement, cohabitation and de facto separation produce no automatic effect for statutory heirship; such relationships can only be taken into account by appointing an heir through a disposition upon death.

The Reserved Share and the Abatement Action

The deceased may not dispose of their assets without limit. The law grants certain heirs an inviolable minimum portion, known as the reserved share. The part of the estate outside the reserved shares forms the disposable portion, over which the deceased may freely dispose by will, by inheritance agreement or by gift inter vivos.

The calculation follows this sequence. The circle of heirs is established first, so that each heir's statutory share is determined. The rates set out in the law are then applied to the shares of those holding a reserved share, and the reserved shares are added together. The part of the estate falling outside that total is the disposable portion, and only over this part may the deceased dispose freely. Where the deceased leaves a spouse and children, both hold a reserved share and the disposable portion is correspondingly narrower. If the deceased made a transfer exceeding that portion, the excess is subject to abatement. Because the rates vary from file to file with the circle of heirs, the calculation must be made on the current text of the law.

The abatement action is the action in which an heir whose reserved share has been infringed seeks the reduction of the part of the disposition exceeding that share. It may be brought against dispositions upon death as well as against the gratuitous transfers listed in the law which the deceased made during their lifetime. In calculating abatement, the gratuitous transfers subject to abatement are added back to the assets held at the date of death and the debts are deducted; the calculation is made on the net value so obtained. A statutory order is observed: dispositions upon death are reduced first, and if that does not suffice, transfers inter vivos are reduced beginning with the most recent.

Time limits are decisive here. The abatement action must be brought within the period laid down by law, running from the date on which the holder of the reserved share learns of the infringement; in any event the right lapses once an outer period has run from the opening of the will, or from the opening of the succession for other dispositions. As these are preclusive periods, they should be confirmed from the current legislation before the file is opened. By contrast, where the recipient of a transfer subject to abatement raises a claim, the holder of the reserved share may invoke the defence of abatement without being bound by a time limit. The action is heard at the court of the deceased's last place of residence, and each heir whose reserved share is infringed may claim only in respect of their own share.

Concealing Assets from the Estate (Collusive Transfer) and the Action for Annulment of Title

Concealing assets from the estate, known in practice as collusive transfer by the deceased, is the most frequently encountered heading in inheritance disputes. Its typical form is this: intending to deprive some of the heirs of their inheritance, the deceased transfers an immovable that they in fact wish to give away by presenting the transaction in the land registry as a sale or as a maintenance-until-death agreement. Two distinct transactions are involved: the apparent sale which the parties do not actually intend, and the concealed gift reflecting their true intention.

That distinction determines the outcome of the case. The apparent transaction is void because the parties did not genuinely intend it, while the concealed gift is void because the official form required for the transfer of immovable property was not observed. The transfer is accordingly treated as ineffective from the outset and the property returns to the estate. The Court of Cassation's decision on the unification of case law established this solution, and practice continues to follow that framework today.

The real difficulty in the case is proving the deceased's true intention. The court assesses together the weight of the transferred asset within the deceased's estate, the gap between the price stated in the deed and the property's actual value at the date of transfer, the transferee's ability to pay, the relationship between the deceased and the heirs, and local custom. Witness statements, bank records, land registry and tax valuations and expert examination are the principal tools of that assessment. We set out step by step how the claim for annulment of title is framed, and the typical course of such a file, in our guide to actions for annulment of title.

Although the allegation of simulation is not bound by a preclusive period, delay works against the claimant: once the property is transferred to third parties the principle protecting reliance on the land registry comes into play and a good-faith third party's acquisition may survive. For this reason an injunction annotation over the property is requested when the action is filed. If the transfer cannot be proved to be simulated, framing an alternative claim for abatement, where the conditions are met, strengthens the claimant's position. In disputes concerning ownership of an immovable we conduct the assessment together with the real estate law side.

Types of Wills, Their Opening and Annulment

A will is a unilateral disposition upon death, made by the testator to take effect after their death. To make a will one must have capacity of discernment and have reached the age laid down by law. A will may appoint heirs, bequeath specific assets, designate an executor and impose conditions and charges; all of this, however, is valid only within the limits of the reserved shares.

The law recognises three types of will, each with its own formal requirements:

• Public will: drawn up by a notary, a judge of the civil court of peace or another officer authorised by law, with two witnesses present. It is the safest type in terms of form and includes a separate procedure for those who cannot read or write.
• Holographic will: written from beginning to end in the testator's own hand, stating the year, month and day on which it was made, and signed. A signature added beneath a printed text does not satisfy this requirement.
• Oral will: made before two witnesses only in extraordinary circumstances such as imminent danger of death, interruption of communications, illness or war, where the other forms are unavailable. If the testator subsequently regains the opportunity to make a will in another form, the oral will ceases to have effect a set period after that date.

Wherever a will is found, it must be delivered to the civil court of peace regardless of whether it is valid. Within the short period set by law from its delivery, the court opens the will and reads it to those concerned, serving a copy on the heirs and on those in whose favour a disposition was made. If no objection is raised within the period set by law from service, the will becomes final and a certificate of inheritance is issued to the beneficiary. Opening a will is not a ruling on the validity of its content; it is merely a procedural step informing those concerned.

An action for the annulment of a will rests on the testator's lack of capacity to dispose, the disposition having been made under the influence of mistake, deceit, threat or duress, its content being contrary to law or morality, or non-compliance with the formal requirements set by law. A defect of form does not render the will void of itself; it must be raised through an action for annulment. The right of action lapses once the period laid down by law has run from the date the claimant learns of the disposition, of the ground of annulment and of their own entitlement; outer periods also run from the opening of the will, and these differ according to whether the defendant acted in good faith. As the periods are short and preclusive, they must be confirmed from the current text of the law in the particular file. In practice an allegation of incapacity is assessed through hospital records, medication reports and witness statements from the period close to the date of death.

Disclaimer of Inheritance and the Liability of Heirs

The inheritance passes to the heirs with both its assets and its liabilities. The estate contains not only property but also the debts of the deceased. Heirs who accept the inheritance are jointly and severally liable for those debts, not only with the assets of the estate but also with their own personal assets. Where the estate is over-indebted this outcome places a heavy burden on the heir, and the law therefore provides three separate routes for limiting liability.

The first is disclaimer. Statutory heirs may disclaim the inheritance within the short period laid down by law, running from the date they learn of the death, and heirs appointed by will from the date the disposition is officially notified to them. The declaration is made orally or in writing to the civil court of peace, must be unconditional, and is entered in a special register kept by the court. If no disclaimer is made within the period, the inheritance is deemed to have been acquired unconditionally. An heir who intermeddles with the estate, takes possession of it or acts in the capacity of heir loses the right to disclaim, and it is therefore necessary to avoid dealings with the estate throughout the disclaimer period. When the period starts and how long it runs are determined by law and should be confirmed from the current legislation once the date of death is known.

Where it is manifestly evident or officially established that the deceased was insolvent at the date of death, the inheritance is deemed disclaimed by operation of law. This is known as disclaimer by operation of law and requires no declaration within a time limit. In practice, however, creditors may nonetheless initiate proceedings against the heirs, so the heir may need to bring an action for a declaration that they are not indebted. Where one heir disclaims, their share passes to the other heirs as though that heir had not been alive when the succession opened; if all the nearest heirs disclaim, the estate is liquidated by the court of peace under the rules on bankruptcy.

Where it is unclear whether the estate is over-indebted, requesting an official inventory is a more measured route than disclaimer. The request is made to the civil court of peace within the disclaimer period; the court officially records the assets and debts of the estate and invites creditors by public notice. If the inheritance is accepted on the basis of the inventory, the heir is as a rule liable only for the debts entered in it. Where it appears that the estate will not cover its debts, official liquidation may be requested. In proceedings brought by the estate's creditors and in enforcement files running against the heirs, the defence on the execution and bankruptcy law side is devised in parallel.

Dissolution of Joint Ownership over the Estate and Division by Sale

When the succession opens, joint ownership in undivided shares arises among the heirs and continues until the division is completed. Although the shares are determined, independent disposal of the assets is not possible under this form of ownership: selling an immovable, letting it or creating a mortgage over it requires, as a rule, the participation of all the heirs. When one heir will not agree, the estate is in effect locked. To unlock it, the law grants every heir the right to demand division, as a rule at any time.

Division is first attempted by agreement. Failing agreement, any heir may bring an action for the dissolution of joint ownership. Heard before the civil court of peace where the immovable is located, this action has a distinctive feature: all co-owners must be joined as parties, and the judgment produces its effects for all of them together. If one of the heirs has died, that heir's own heirs must also be joined; an up-to-date certificate of inheritance therefore functions as a precondition of the action.

The court first examines whether division in kind is possible. If the immovable can be divided in proportion to the shares without a significant loss of value, division in kind may be ordered and any difference between the shares is equalised in money. Where division in kind is not possible, or the co-owners do not seek it, the court orders the property to be sold and the proceeds distributed in proportion to the shares. The sale is conducted by the sales office through public auction and is as a rule open to all; on request, the court may also order that the auction be held only among the co-owners. We examine how the process works step by step in our article on the action for dissolution of joint ownership in İzmir.

The outcome of this action can be severe for an heir actually occupying the property: even a building serving as the family home may be lost through sale. In practice, the ways of reducing that risk are to reach agreement among the co-owners before the sale, to open the way to division in kind by establishing condominium ownership over the property, and to agree on transferring the shares to one co-owner. Where the estate includes an income-producing property, claims for occupancy compensation and rent for the period until the division is completed are assessed separately.

The Estate Division Agreement and Settlement Among Heirs

Heirs carrying out the division among themselves is both faster than litigation and better at preserving the value of the estate. An estate division agreement is one in which the heirs freely decide which assets go to whom and how the shares are to be equalised. The law makes the validity of such an agreement dependent on written form; no official form is required even where the estate includes immovable property. All the heirs must, however, join the agreement, which produces no effect in respect of an heir who does not.

A well-drafted division agreement identifies the immovables in the estate by block, parcel and independent unit, and lists bank accounts, vehicles, company shares and receivables separately. It states clearly who is to assume the debts of the estate and how differences in value are to be equalised. Where one heir receives more than their share, the equalisation payment and its schedule are set out. Although the agreement is valid in written form, drawing it up before a notary is preferred in practice so that transfer and registration procedures at the land registry proceed without difficulty.

Another matter often overlooked in the division is equalisation. Gratuitous transfers made by the deceased to descendants during their lifetime, against their inheritance share, are subject to equalisation in the division unless the deceased expressly provided otherwise. Trousseau, start-up capital and the discharge of debts are assessed within this scope. Equalisation is a distinct institution from abatement, which concerns the reserved share, and serves to maintain equality among the heirs. Where an heir wishes to transfer their share, a transfer among heirs is subject to written form, while a transfer to a third party requires a deed drawn up by a notary, and the transferee may not take part in the division but may only claim the share falling to that heir.

In files where agreement is not possible, the sequence is usually as follows: the certificate of inheritance is obtained, a determination of the estate is requested, claims for annulment of title and abatement are raised where transfers were simulated, and the division is completed through the dissolution of joint ownership. The order in which these steps are taken and the court before which they are pursued are determined by the circumstances of the particular file. Establishing the scope of the estate and the circle of heirs correctly at the outset prevents repeated proceedings at later stages.