During the Pandemic days we have received a lot of questions about Turkish Estate Planning and Turkish Wills.
Please see below the important parts of an article we published before on Turkish Inheritance Laws and Turkish Wills.
According to the ‘Law on Code of International Private and Procedure Law’ regarding inheritance matters, any movable assets of a foreigner is subject to his/her nationality’s law, but immovable assets located in Turkey will be subject to Turkish laws.
Turkey also have mandatory heirship, which means foreigners can’t leave their properties to anyone they wish – the mandatory heirs (mostly 1st degree relatives) can object if their reserved portion is violated.
It is very important for the Wills to be drafted in line with UK Wills and reserved portions need to be carefully considered.
The validity of your Will is based on several principles. First of all, the testator should have full mental capacity. Secondly, the Turkish Will needs to be either in official form, in handwriting or verbal. If it’s verbally delivered the existence and impartiality of the witnesses are rather important. Moreover, the Turkish Will shall be deemed official and valid if it is signed in the presence of a Notary Public or a local judge and with two witnesses.
If the person dies intestate, the Turkish Civil Code distributes the shares of the property between the inheritors according to a hierarchy of the most beneficial relatives. In this case children, parents and the spouse are the statutory inheritors and the portion of the inheritance will be according to Turkish Law.
If you already have a property in Turkey or you are willing to have one, the Turkish Will is a significant step to be completed and to give you peace of mind. You do not have to travel to Turkey and it can all be done from the UK.
