If you own an apartment in Antalya, a villa in Bodrum or a bank account in Istanbul, you have probably asked yourself a difficult question: what happens to my assets in Turkey when I die? And if you have recently lost a relative who owned property here, you are facing the same rules from the other side. This guide explains
inheritance law in Turkey for foreigners in plain language: which country’s law applies, who inherits what, how the process works for
families in practice, and how much inheritance tax you should expect to pay in 2026.
Turkish inheritance rules are codified, predictable and — once you understand the framework — reassuringly clear. But they contain several features that surprise foreign owners and heirs, such as mandatory “reserved shares” for close family members and a court procedure that foreign heirs must follow to prove their status. Let’s take it step by step.
Which Country’s Law Applies to Your Estate?
This is the starting point of every cross-border inheritance case, and Turkish law answers it with a clear two-part rule found in Article 20 of the Turkish Code on Private International Law (
Law No. 5718, known as “MÖHUK”):
- Immovable property located in Turkey — apartments, houses, land — is always governed by Turkish inheritance law, regardless of the deceased’s nationality or place of residence.
- All other assets (movables such as bank accounts, vehicles, shares) are governed by the national law of the deceased — that is, the law of the country whose citizenship they held.
In practice this means a German, British or Russian citizen who owns a flat in Alanya cannot “opt out” of Turkish succession rules for that flat. Even a will drawn up abroad under foreign law cannot override the mandatory provisions of Turkish law for real estate located in Turkey. For the rest of the estate — say, a Turkish bank account — the inheritance laws of the deceased’s home country will generally determine who the heirs are, although the procedure still runs through Turkish courts and institutions.
Inheritance Laws in Turkey: Who Are the Legal Heirs?
Turkish inheritance laws follow the Turkish Civil Code and use a system of ranked groups of relatives, known as the “zümre” (lineage) system. Heirs in a closer group exclude those in more distant groups entirely:
- First group: the deceased’s children and their descendants (grandchildren, great-grandchildren).
- Second group: the deceased’s parents and their descendants (siblings, nieces and nephews) — they inherit only if there are no descendants.
- Third group: the deceased’s grandparents and their descendants (aunts, uncles, cousins) — they inherit only if the first two groups are empty.
The
surviving spouse is a
special heir who inherits alongside whichever group exists:
- together with the deceased’s children: the spouse receives 1/4 of the estate;
- together with the deceased’s parents or siblings: the spouse receives 1/2;
- together with grandparents or their descendants: the spouse receives 3/4;
- if none of these relatives exist: the spouse inherits everything.
If the deceased leaves no legal heirs at all and no will, the estate passes to the Turkish State.
Reserved Shares and Disinheritance Under Turkish Law
One of the features of Turkish law that most surprises foreigners — especially those from common-law countries like the UK or the US, where testamentary freedom is broad — is the concept of the
reserved share (saklı pay). Certain close relatives are entitled to a minimum portion of the estate that a will cannot take away from them:
- Descendants (children, grandchildren): reserved share equal to 1/2 of their statutory share;
- Mother and father: 1/4 of their statutory share each;
- Surviving spouse: the entire statutory share when inheriting together with descendants or the deceased’s parents, and 3/4 of the statutory share in other cases.
Siblings no longer have a reserved share under current Turkish law. Anything beyond the reserved shares — the “disposable portion” — can be freely left to anyone by will. If a will violates a reserved share, it is not automatically void: the affected heir must bring an
abatement action (tenkis davası) before the Turkish courts to claim their protected portion. This applies to Turkish real estate even where the deceased was a foreign citizen, because — as explained above — Turkish law governs immovables in Turkey.
Can You Ever Disinherit an Heir? Yes — on Specific Grounds
Reserved shares are strong, but they are not absolute. The Turkish Civil Code allows a testator to
disinherit even a reserved-share heir (mirasçılıktan çıkarma) by will, in two situations set out in Article 510:
- the heir has committed a serious criminal offence against the deceased or a person close to the deceased; or
- the heir has substantially failed to fulfil their family-law duties towards the deceased or the deceased’s family (for example, long-term abandonment or neglect).
Formal requirements matter here: the will must
state the reason for the disinheritance (Article 512). A validly disinherited heir receives nothing and cannot bring an abatement action — although the disinherited heir’s own descendants may still claim
their reserved share (Article 511). If the disinherited heir contests the will and the stated ground cannot be proven — or no ground was stated at all — the disinheritance collapses to the extent of the heir’s reserved share: the heir recovers the protected portion through court proceedings, while the rest of the will stands.
In practice, disinheritance clauses are regularly included in notarial wills in Turkey even where the legal grounds are debatable. Such a clause is not filtered out at the notary stage — it takes effect unless and until the affected heir goes to court to protect their reserved share and challenge the disposition. This is why both testators and disinherited heirs should treat these clauses as the beginning of a legal analysis, not the end of one.
Two related mechanisms complete the picture. Under Article 513 of Turkish Civil Code, a testator may carry out a
protective disinheritance of an insolvent descendant for half of that descendant’s reserved share, provided this half is allocated to the descendant’s own children. And separately from anything written in a will, Article 578 lists grounds of
unworthiness to inherit (mirastan yoksunluk) that operate automatically by law: intentionally and unlawfully killing or attempting to kill the deceased, permanently incapacitating them from making a testamentary disposition, inducing or preventing a disposition through fraud, duress or threats, or destroying or falsifying one. An unworthy person inherits nothing — unless the deceased forgave them.
Turkish Property Inheritance Law: Can Foreign Heirs Acquire Real Estate?
The short answer is yes — citizens of most countries can inherit real estate in Turkey. Turkish
property inheritance law, however, applies the same nationality-based framework that governs property purchases, set out in Article 35 of the Land Registry Law (Law No. 2644):
- Citizens of the large majority of countries (more than 180, determined by the President) may acquire property in Turkey, including by inheritance.
- A foreign individual may hold at most 30 hectares of real estate in Turkey in total, and foreign ownership in any given district cannot exceed 10% of the privately ownable land area.
- Properties inside military forbidden zones and security zones cannot be registered in the name of foreign nationals. Under Article 29 of the Law on Military Forbidden Zones and Security Zones (Law No. 2565), the President of the Republic is authorised to order the liquidation of real estate belonging to foreign individuals and legal entities in these zones and to determine how that liquidation is carried out.
What happens if an heir’s nationality does not permit acquisition, or the property falls within a restricted zone? The inheritance itself is not confiscated. The heir still receives the
value of the asset: under the final paragraphs of Article 35 of the
Land Registry Law, the property must be
disposed of by the heir within a period — not exceeding one year — set by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance; if it is not, the state liquidates the property itself and pays the proceeds to the heir. This liquidation mechanism is an important nuance that many general guides omit, and it is one of the reasons heirs from restricted countries should seek legal advice early.
The Inheritance Process in Turkey, Step by Step
1. Obtain a Certificate of Inheritance (Veraset İlamı)
Before any asset can be transferred, the heirs must be officially identified. This is done with a
certificate of inheritance (mirasçılık belgesi / veraset ilamı). While Turkish citizens in straightforward cases can obtain this certificate from a notary,
cases involving a foreign element must go through the Civil Court of Peace (Sulh Hukuk Mahkemesi). This is not merely a matter of practice — it rests on two express legal provisions:
- Article 71/B of the Notary Law (Law No. 1512) provides that a certificate of inheritance cannot be issued by a notary where the matter requires judicial examination, where the civil registry records are insufficient, or where the certificate is requested by foreigners;
- Article 37 of the Land Registry Law (Law No. 2644) provides that inheritance transfers concerning foreign individuals may only be carried out at the land registry on the basis of a certificate of inheritance issued by a Turkish court — or a certificate issued by the competent foreign authority whose conformity with the Turkish rules on succession has been confirmed by a Turkish court.
The Civil Court of Peace examines the family relationship and issues a certificate listing each heir and their share. Foreign heirs will need to submit documents proving kinship — typically birth, marriage and death certificates issued by their home country — bearing an
apostille and accompanied by
certified Turkish translations. As Article 37 of the Land Registry Law makes clear, a certificate of inheritance issued by a foreign court or authority is not directly effective for property transfers in Turkey; it must first be reviewed and confirmed through proceedings before the Turkish courts.
2. File the Inheritance Tax Declaration
Once heirship is established, an inheritance and transfer
tax declaration must be filed with the Turkish tax office. The deadlines depend on where the death occurred and where the heirs live — generally
four months if both the death and the heirs are in Turkey, and
six months where the death occurred abroad or the heirs live abroad.
3. Transfer the Title Deed and Other Assets
With the certificate of inheritance and the tax office’s clearance in hand, the heirs apply to the
Land Registry (Tapu) office to register the property in their names, and to banks to release account balances. In practice, foreign heirs usually complete the entire process through a lawyer acting under a power of attorney, without needing to travel to Turkey repeatedly.
Is There Inheritance Tax in Turkey? (2026 Rates)
Yes — but it is modest by European standards. Turkey levies an
inheritance and transfer tax (veraset ve intikal vergisi) on assets passing by inheritance, with generous exemptions. For 2026:
- The first TRY 2,907,136 of each share inherited by the spouse and each child is tax-exempt;
- if there are no descendants, the spouse’s exemption rises to TRY 5,817,845;
- gratuitous transfers (gifts) enjoy a smaller exemption of TRY 66,935.
Above the exemption, inheritance tax applies on a progressive scale from
1% to 10% (transfers by gift are taxed at higher rates, from 10% to 30%):
| Taxable base (2026) |
Inheritance rate |
Gift rate |
| First TRY 3,000,000 |
1% |
10% |
| Next TRY 7,000,000 |
3% |
15% |
| Next TRY 15,000,000 |
5% |
20% |
| Next TRY 30,000,000 |
7% |
25% |
| Above TRY 55,000,000 |
10% |
30% |
The tax is not due in a single payment: it can be paid over
three years, in two installments per year (May and November). For real estate, the taxable value is based on the property’s official tax value, which is typically well below market value — so in most cases the actual tax burden on an inherited holiday home is small.
Should Foreigners Make a Will in Turkey?
A foreign national can make a will in Turkey before a notary, in handwritten form, or rely on a will validly made abroad — Turkey is party to the
1961 Hague Convention on the Conflicts of Laws Relating to the Form of Testamentary Dispositions, which it joined by
Law No. 2662 of 22 April 1982 (Official Gazette No. 17931, 17 January 1983). As a result, a will that is formally valid under the law of the place where it was made is generally recognised in Turkey. Turkey applies the Convention with a few limited reservations — concerning oral wills of its own citizens, the determination of domicile and clauses unrelated to succession — which rarely affect foreign testators in practice. The key limits to keep in mind are substantive, not formal: for real estate in Turkey, the reserved-share rules described above cannot be overridden, whatever the will says — although the specific disinheritance grounds in the Turkish Civil Code remain available.
A Turkish will is nonetheless often worth making. It speeds up the procedure, avoids translation and recognition issues, and lets you distribute the disposable portion exactly as you wish — for example, leaving the freely disposable part of your Turkish property to your spouse rather than splitting everything by default rules.
Conclusion
Inheritance law in Turkey for foreigners is a mixture of firm mandatory rules (Turkish law for real estate, reserved shares for close family) and practical, manageable procedure (a court certificate, a modest tax, a title transfer). The system protects heirs well — but it rewards preparation. Whether you are an owner planning ahead or an heir dealing with a recent loss, taking advice early prevents costly mistakes with deadlines, documents and restricted-acquisition rules.
Our team advises foreign property owners and heirs at every stage of the Turkish inheritance process — from wills and estate planning to certificates of inheritance, recognition proceedings and title deed transfers. Contact us for a consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can foreigners inherit property in Turkey?
Yes. Citizens of most countries can inherit real estate in Turkey, subject to the same restrictions that apply to purchases (nationality-based eligibility, military zones, area limits). Heirs who cannot legally hold the property receive its sale value instead.
Which law applies if a foreigner dies owning property in Turkey?
Turkish law applies to all immovable property located in Turkey. Movable assets such as bank accounts are governed by the national law of the deceased, under Article 20 of the Turkish Code on Private International Law.
Is there inheritance tax in Turkey?
Yes, but rates are low: 1% to 10% on a progressive scale, after a 2026 exemption of TRY 2,907,136 per share for the spouse and each child. The tax can be paid over three years in six installments.
How do foreign heirs prove they are heirs?
By obtaining a certificate of inheritance from the Turkish Civil Court of Peace, supported by apostilled and translated civil status documents. A foreign certificate of inheritance must be recognised by a Turkish court before it can be used.
Can I leave my Turkish property to anyone I want in my will?
Only partly. Your children, parents and spouse have reserved shares protected by Turkish law, and you can freely dispose of the remaining portion. Disinheriting a reserved-share heir entirely is possible only on the specific grounds listed in the Turkish Civil Code, such as a serious offence against the testator or grave neglect of family duties.
How long does the inheritance process take in Turkey?
A straightforward case — court certificate, tax declaration and title transfer — is typically completed within a few months. Cases involving document legalisation, recognition of foreign judgments or disputes between heirs take longer.
