PERSONAL STATUS · CIVIL REGISTRY RECORDS
Name and Surname Change
Name and surname changes based on a justified reason, spelling errors, children’s surnames and name differences in foreign documents.
Request a Consultation for Civil Registry MattersOur Approach to This Procedure
The name in use is compared with the civil registry record. The evidence of the justified reason, the effects on family ties and the possibility of an administrative procedure are determined; consistency of records after the decision is followed up.
Name and Surname Change or Correction
A first name and surname are directly connected with a person’s identity and personality rights. Correcting a spelling error is not the same procedure as a person’s wish to change their first name or surname for a justified reason. In a first name or surname change, the name the person uses in daily and professional life, any record that causes misunderstanding or difficulty, the family and social circle, foreign country documents and the effects on private life are assessed with concrete evidence.
The work in this area:
- Correction of spelling, letter or transliteration errors in the name
- Differences between the name in use and the official record
- Removal, addition or reordering of more than one name
- A first name or surname that is ridiculous, offensive or makes it difficult to identify the person
- Being known by another name in social or professional life
- Entry of a name in a foreign language in Turkish records in a different form
- Name differences after the acquisition or loss of Turkish citizenship
- Differences between the first name and surname in a closed record and the current foreign record
- Surname requests connected with marriage, divorce or widowhood
- Requests connected with the child’s surname and family ties
- Application of the change to identity card, passport, diploma, land registry, bank and other records
covers these headings. Where a court decision is required, the justified reason, the person’s private life and the legal security of third parties are assessed together. A lawsuit should not be filed unnecessarily for surname procedures that legislation allows to be carried out by administrative application.
Preparing for the Consultation and Scope of Services
Prepare the record you believe is wrong or inconsistent, the official documents on which that record is based and, if there is one, the rejection letter. Also state the dates of any notifications and procedures. Do not share unnecessary personal data before it has been assessed which documents the file actually requires.
The scope of the administrative application, lawsuit, appeal and post-decision procedures, as well as the attorney’s fee and other expenses, are agreed separately. The outcome and the end date are not guaranteed.
From Antalya to Personal Status Matters Across Türkiye
Güneş & Güneş Law Firm, founded in Kemer on March 18, 1999, assesses personal status procedures in all 81 provinces of Türkiye according to the subject-matter jurisdiction, territorial jurisdiction, representation and evidence requirements of the file. Our actual headquarters has been in Antalya since 2007.
In Türkiye-related record and document procedures of persons living abroad, the requirements of diplomatic missions, foreign documents, translation and registration are handled together. Local procedures in a foreign country are coordinated separately with lawyers authorized in that country when necessary.
Languages of communication: Turkish, English, German and Russian.
Legal Basis
Depending on the nature of the request, the Turkish Civil Code, the Population Services Law and the relevant procedural provisions are applied together.
This content is general information. It does not replace the review of a specific case. Sending an inquiry does not by itself create an attorney–client relationship and does not stop statutory time limits.