Contested Divorce, Litigation and Evidence

Court with Subject-Matter and Territorial Jurisdiction

In divorce cases the court with subject-matter jurisdiction is the family court; in places without a separate family court, the case is heard by the civil court of first instance acting as a family court. Under Article 168 of the Turkish Civil Code, the court with territorial jurisdiction is the court of the place of residence of one of the spouses or of the place where the spouses last lived together for more than six months before the case.

Where the place of residence is disputed, a party is abroad or in a penal institution, or cases exist in more than one country, subject-matter jurisdiction, territorial jurisdiction, international jurisdiction and service of documents must be examined separately. Because applying to the wrong court may lead to loss of time and costs, the choice of court should be checked at the start of the file.

Contested Divorce Case

A contested divorce process arises where the parties cannot agree on one of the following: the divorce, the ground for divorce, fault, custody, maintenance, damages or other consequences. The claims and defenses must be explained with material facts, the claims must be stated clearly, and each fact must be linked to lawful evidence submitted within the time limit.

Grounds for Divorce

The Turkish Civil Code provides for the following

• Adultery
• Attempt on life, very bad or humiliating treatment
• Commission of a crime and leading a dishonorable life
• Desertion
• Mental illness
• Irretrievable breakdown of the marriage
• Failure to re-establish common life under the statutory conditions

among the grounds for divorce.

Conditions, time limits for filing and standards of proof are not the same for each ground. Several grounds may exist in a specific case; however, which legal ground the events will be based on and how they will be linked to the claims must be determined according to the file. The preclusive periods for the special grounds for divorce and conduct that may be regarded as forgiveness are also important.

Failure to Re-establish Common Life After an Earlier Case Was Dismissed

If common life has not been re-established although one year has passed from the finalization of the judgment dismissing an earlier case filed on one of the grounds for divorce, the marriage may be regarded as irretrievably broken under the conditions of Article 166(4) of the Turkish Civil Code. This period was reduced from three years to one year by the statutory amendment made in 2024. In its decision of February 12, 2026, the Constitutional Court did not find the phrase “one year” contrary to the Constitution.

In assessing the conditions of this route, the date on which the earlier judgment became final, the parties’ living situation after that date and the filing date of the new case must be checked against documents.

Fault, Counterclaim and Procedural Time Limits

The assessment of fault matters not only for the divorce judgment but also for claims for poverty maintenance and pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages. Whether each event occurred, its effect on the marital union, its relation to other events and the state of proof are examined separately.

The defendant spouse may raise defenses in the answer and, if the conditions are met, may file a counterclaim. Facts or evidence raised later, without regard to the time limits for the answer and the counterclaim and to the prohibition on expanding the claim and the defense, may be disregarded. It is important to build the strategy for the claim and the answer at the start of the file on the information and documents then available.

Conversion of a Contested Case into an Uncontested Divorce

During a case that began as contested, the parties may agree on the financial consequences of the divorce and the children’s situation. If the marriage has lasted at least one year and the other statutory conditions are met, the case may be concluded under the uncontested divorce procedure. The protocol must be consistent with the current claims in the file, and the parties must state their will in person before the judge.

Where the parties agree only on some matters, the points on which they agree and the claims that remain in dispute must be separated and examined. The divorce and the consequences concerning the children’s personal circumstances arise not merely from the parties’ agreement but from the court’s judgment.

Mediation is not a condition precedent to litigation in divorce cases. The divorce itself, custody and the child’s personal circumstances are not matters that the parties can end or finally regulate solely by their own will; a court judgment and judicial supervision are required. However, the parties or their representatives may negotiate on the financial consequences of the divorce and its other ancillary consequences. It must also be borne in mind that disputes involving an allegation of domestic violence are not suitable for mediation.

My Spouse Has Filed for Divorce Against Me; What Should I Do?

Keep the petition, its attachments, the service envelope or the electronic service record. Based on the date of service and the file, the need to file an answer, a first objection, a counterclaim and evidence is assessed. Merely accepting the divorce may not mean that you have asserted all your independent claims. Applying to the firm does not stop procedural time limits.

Judicial Separation Case

Where a ground for divorce exists, separation may be requested instead of divorce, depending on its conditions. If only separation is requested, the judge cannot order a divorce; if divorce is requested, a separation judgment may come into question to the extent that there is a possibility of re-establishing common life.

A separation judgment does not end the marriage. During the separation period, matters such as the spouses’ housing and livelihood, custody of the children and personal contact are regulated separately. If common life has not been re-established at the end of the statutory separation period, either spouse may file a divorce case.

Evidence and Proof in a Divorce Case

The judgment rests not merely on the parties’ allegations but on evidence properly submitted to the file and discussed in the proceedings. In the evidence plan, it is examined together which fact is to be proved by whom, what the evidence can show, how it was obtained and whether it was submitted within the time limit.

Depending on the nature of the dispute, witness statements, messages, e-mails, photographs and images, bank and payment records, health records, law enforcement and prosecution documents, a social and economic investigation, social investigation or expert reports, land registry and company records and records to be obtained from the relevant institutions may come into question.

Content that violates privacy, is obtained through unlawful access to personal data or amounts to an unlawful audio or video recording may give rise to legal and criminal liability, in addition to the risk that it cannot be used as evidence. Before electronic records are deleted, altered or taken out of context, a lawful method of documenting and preserving them must be determined.

Attendance at the Hearing, Representation by a Lawyer and Confidentiality of the Proceedings

In an uncontested divorce, the judge’s hearing of the parties in person is a statutory condition. In a contested case, the parties may be represented by a lawyer; where necessary, the court may order that a party be heard in person or be present for a particular act. The consequence of not attending the hearing varies according to whether the party is the claimant or the defendant, whether the party was properly summoned and the act to be performed.

For a divorce case to be filed or pursued through a lawyer, the power of attorney must contain special authority to file and pursue cases concerning rights strictly tied to the person. A power of attorney to be executed abroad may need to be executed before a Turkish consulate or before the competent authority of the relevant country; depending on the country where it is executed and the nature of the document, apostille or certification and translation into Turkish may need to be completed. The form and scope of the power of attorney must be checked before the case is filed.

Hearings are public as a rule. However, under Article 184(6) of the Turkish Civil Code, in a divorce case the judge may, at the request of one of the parties, order that the hearing be held in private. This is a matter for the judge to assess upon request; it does not mean that the file is automatically confidential in every case. To protect the children, health information and private life, only data relevant to the dispute should be shared.

How Long Does a Divorce Case Take?

The duration of uncontested and contested divorce cases is not the same. Service of documents, a counterclaim, witnesses and institutional records, a social investigation or expert report, service abroad, disputes over interim measures and applications for legal remedies may affect the duration.

In an uncontested divorce, the protocol must be enforceable, the parties must be present at the hearing, and the reasoned judgment and finalization procedures are required. In a contested case, the petitions, the preliminary examination, the investigation phase (tahkikat), the collection of evidence, the oral hearing and any legal remedies are separate stages. Without knowing the court’s workload and the characteristics of the file, a definite date of conclusion or number of hearings cannot be given.