Inheritance and Estate Law: Questions and Answers

A certificate of inheritance shows the heirs and their shares in the estate; on its own, it does not mean that the estate has been distributed.

The certificate of inheritance (veraset ilamı) is used to establish heir status and share ratios. It may be requested for the transfer of title at the land registry, for investigating bank accounts, and for other institutional transactions connected with the inheritance. However, a certificate of inheritance does not conclusively resolve an ownership dispute; if it contains an error, its cancellation or correction may come into question. Tax liabilities, the debts of the estate and the actual division among the heirs are separate processes.

A disclaimer of inheritance is a time-limited transaction with serious consequences for the debts of the estate and the personal liability of the heirs.

Under Article 606 of the Turkish Civil Code, the time limit for disclaiming an inheritance is, as a rule, three months. For statutory heirs, the period starts running from the date on which they learn of the decedent’s death; if they prove that they learned only later that they were heirs, the starting point is determined separately. Different starting rules apply to appointed heirs. The declaration of disclaimer must be submitted to the competent civil court of peace within the time limit and in the proper form. Where the estate is clearly insolvent, disclaimer by operation of law, and conduct that may result in acceptance of the inheritance, must also be assessed separately.

Yes. However, the type of action depends on whether the transfer was in fact a sale or a gift, and on which right was infringed.

In a transfer of real property made during the decedent’s lifetime, simulation, infringement of the reserved portion, lack of capacity, non-compliance with form or other grounds of invalidity are assessed separately. A request for cancellation of the title deed and re-registration based on simulation by the deceased and a request for abatement do not rest on the same legal conditions. The land registry transaction record, payment movements, the real value of the property, the relationship between the parties, the conditions of care and use, and witness statements are examined together. The mere fact that the decedent made a gift does not, by itself, justify every action.

No; besides the official will, there are also the handwritten will and the extraordinary oral will, provided they meet the conditions of the law.

The provisions of the Turkish Civil Code on the form of wills prescribe different requirements for each type. For a handwritten will, handwriting from beginning to end, the date and the signature are essential; for an official will, the requirements concerning the competent official and the witnesses are essential. Defects of form may be raised in an annulment action.

Because the inheritance passes by universal succession, liability for debts may arise; the options of disclaimer and liquidation should be examined without delay.

For an actual disclaimer of the inheritance, a three-month period applies as a rule; the starting point may differ depending on when the heir learned and on the heir’s status as an heir. The conditions for disclaimer by operation of law should also be investigated separately in relation to whether the estate was clearly insolvent on the date of death.

If the conditions are met, the heir may request, by an action for abatement (tenkis davası), the reduction of dispositions that infringe the reserved portion.

Heirs entitled to a reserved portion are assessed on the basis of the estate accounts as of the date of death, gifts, wills and the statutory reserved portion ratios. For the action for abatement, the time limits that run from the date of learning and the time limits that apply in any event, as well as the heir’s status and the scope of the claim, must be calculated on the basis of the specific file.

No; annulment concerns the validity of the disposition, whereas abatement concerns the infringement of the reserved portion.

Lack of capacity, defects of intent, contravention of law or morality, and defects of form may be considered among the grounds for annulment. Abatement seeks the reduction of a valid disposition to the extent that it infringes the reserved portion; the time limits and the proof for the two requests must be examined separately.

Non-attendance at the hearing does not, by itself, extinguish the right of inheritance; however, it may create a risk with regard to notification and filing deadlines.

The opening of a will and its notification to interested persons, on the one hand, and asserting the invalidity of a will, on the other, are different procedural acts. The notifications and the date of learning must be recorded.

Apart from the exceptions provided by law, the unilateral revocation of an inheritance contract is more limited than in the case of a will.

The type of inheritance contract, the parties’ performances, the requirements of form, the grounds for withdrawal agreed in the contract and the relevant provisions of the Turkish Civil Code are examined separately. The regimes for revoking a contract and for revoking a will must not be confused.

As a rule, heir status matters at the moment the succession opens; whether or not the claimant was an heir on the date of the transfer does not, by itself, bar the action.

The true purpose of the transaction and its apparent nature are investigated. The certificate of inheritance, the land registry transaction record, the relationship between the sale price and the market value, and witness statements must be assessed together.