WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A UK CITIZEN WHO IS ALSO A TURKISH PROPERTY OWNER PASS AWAY ?
1) If there is a valid Turkish Will:
Their Turkish lawyer will handle the inheritance according to the Turkish Will. Once the Estate is opened by the court, beneficiaries will have their inheritance registered in their names.
2) If the person dies intestate:
What is the applicable law when a valid UK Will mentions the immovable assets in Turkey and who are legal heirs according to the Turkish Inheritance Law:
Immovable assets (such as land and properties) located in Turkey will be subject to Turkish law.
Turkish Inheritance law have mandatory heirship principle which means the 1st decree relatives of the deceased, such as surviving wife, children and parents have a reserved portion. The reserved portion cannot be gifted to anyone else. Any contradictory clause of a valid Will to the mandatory heirship can be inapplicable and considered invalid.
Legal heirs in according to the Turkish Inheritance Law are:
If the deceased person has children, spouse, these are the first decree heirs
If the deceased person had no children, neither spouse, the deceased’s parents shall be the first decree heirs
If the deceased person’s parents are also deceased, then the deceased person’s siblings shall be the first decree heirs
The grandparents can inherit if none of the above category of relatives survived the deceased.
If the deceased leaves no surviving heir and no Turkish Will, the estate becomes the property of the Turkish State.
Please call our office or email our senior partner Burcu Holmgren who is a Turkish lawyer and our in house Turkish inheritance law expert.
Her email is b.orhan@londonlegalint.co.uk
