In a property division lawsuit, the right claim, the right asset and the right procedure must be set up together. That a divorce action has been filed does not mean that the liquidation claim has also been sued upon. Subject-matter jurisdiction, territorial jurisdiction, fees, proof and interim protection are assessed separately.
What Changed in 2026 as to the Type of Action?
Law No. 7589, which entered into force on July 31, 2026, repealed Article 107 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which regulated the action for an indeterminate claim. Paragraph four of the current Article 109 allows, in a partial action, one increase of the claim until the end of the investigation phase (tahkikat), without being subject to the prohibition on expanding the claim. For the increased part, the statute of limitations is deemed interrupted as of the date of filing. [2, 5]
Paragraph ten of Provisional Article 1 of Law No. 7589 continues the application of the former Article 107 to actions filed before its repeal. For this reason, an existing file and a new action should not be given the same explanation. The new provision does not by itself resolve the problems of the statute of limitations, interest and adding new assets.
The Basic Structure of the Case File
| Section | Point to be explained |
|---|---|
| Period | Marriage, contract, divorce action and finalization |
| List of assets | Identity, owner, acquisition and financing |
| Claim | Type of claim, amount sought for each asset, interest |
| Evidence | Documents and institutional records linked to each allegation |
| Protection | Concrete danger, target asset, proportionality and security |
How Are Fees and Expenses Planned?
For a monetary claim, a fee based on value, an advance on costs and any necessary expert examination come into play. A fixed “property division lawsuit fee” does not explain all files. The scope of the examination of immovable property, companies and accounts changes the cost. If the conditions for legal aid are met, an application can be made with the income and expense documents relating to it.
What Happens If the Divorce Has Not Yet Become Final?
Filing the liquidation action is distinct from rendering a judgment on its merits. It may be necessary to treat the outcome of the divorce as a prejudicial issue (bekletici mesele). The liquidation claim must also be assessed in light of the possibility that the divorce will be dismissed or end in some other way. What is decisive is not the name of the petition but the facts alleged and the result sought.
How Is an Action on the Matrimonial Property Regime Filed?
Who Conducts the Action If One Spouse Is Under Guardianship?
The guardian may pursue the action on behalf of the spouse under guardianship; however, under Article 462/8 of the Turkish Civil Code, except in urgent cases, the permission of the guardianship authority is required for filing an action, settling, arbitration and composition with creditors (konkordato). There are also special permission provisions for acts such as a matrimonial property contract and the partition of an inheritance. If the interests of the guardian and the person under guardianship, or of the two spouses, conflict, a representation trustee (kayyım) may be needed. Waiver or settlement without permission, or defective representation, may affect the validity of the act and the res judicata effect of the judgment.
What Stages Does the Action Go Through?
| Stage | Step taken | Critical check |
|---|---|---|
| File preparation | Regime/date matrix, inventory of assets and debts, analysis of records and injunctions | Time limits must not be left waiting because of the risk of diverting assets |
| Filing of the action | Type of claim, amount, fee, interest, evidence and injunction are submitted | Each asset and legal ground should be made as concrete as possible |
| Pleadings | Response, reply to the response, rejoinder and, if any, counterclaim | Procedural time limits must be protected for new facts and claims |
| Preliminary examination | Procedural prerequisites, initial objections, points of dispute and evidence are determined | Missing institutional records and requests on prejudicial issues should be placed clearly on the record |
| Investigation phase | Land registry, bank, company, tax and other records are collected; witnesses may be heard and an on-site examination may be conducted | It should be checked whether the records arrive complete by period and account |
| Expert | A report is obtained according to expertise in law, finance, companies, real estate, actuarial science or information technology | The legal characterization belongs to the judge; calculation assumptions should be tested one by one |
| Judgment | Receivable, interest, litigation costs and attorney’s fee are decided | Exceeding the claim, incomplete judgment and enforceability should be checked |
| Legal remedies | Appeal (regional court of appeal) and appeal to the Court of Cassation, if the conditions are met | Adverse calculation, rejection of evidence and insufficient reasoning should be made concrete |
| Enforcement/payment | Monetary claim, payment in kind, deferral, security and enforcement abroad are assessed | The conditions for finalization and enforcement of the judgment should be examined part by part |
There is no fixed duration for these stages. The finalization of the divorce, a search abroad, company valuation, actions against third parties, the number of experts and legal remedies determine the total duration.
Can Legal Aid Be Requested?
A person lacking the means to pay litigation costs may request legal aid under the conditions of Article 334 and the following articles of the Code of Civil Procedure. The request should not be left to an income statement alone; documents showing assets, income, expenses, dependents, and that the action is not clearly unfounded should be submitted. Legal aid does not automatically eliminate a debt payable to the other party or all the financial consequences that may arise at the end of the action.
How Is an Action on the Matrimonial Property Regime Filed?
Should the Action Be Filed Together with the Divorce Action or Separately?
Both routes are possible. A matrimonial property regime claim put forward in the divorce petition with a separate request for relief and the necessary fee is generally severed. If a separate action has been filed, the finalization of the divorce judgment is made a prejudicial issue. The strategy should be chosen by assessing together the need for an injunction, the statute of limitations, the risk of loss of evidence, fees and the management of the proceedings.
Is There Mediation as a Condition Precedent to Litigation?
For family law receivables arising from the liquidation of the matrimonial property regime, there is no general mandatory mediation as a condition precedent to litigation. In disputes over which the parties can freely dispose, voluntary mediation can be considered. Disputes involving an allegation of domestic violence are not suitable for mediation under Law No. 6325. The form of the transfer of immovable property and the rights of third parties are also taken into account separately. If a file also contains independent claims that are subject to a commercial, employment or other condition precedent to litigation, the regime of each claim is examined separately.
Which Is the Court with Subject-Matter Jurisdiction?
Under Law No. 4787, the family court (aile mahkemesi) has subject-matter jurisdiction in disputes over the liquidation of the matrimonial property regime. In a place where there is no family court, the civil court of first instance (asliye hukuk mahkemesi) tries the case as a family court. In claims such as simulation with a third party, cancellation of title, dissolution of co-ownership or a claim of ownership (istihkak), the court with subject-matter jurisdiction may not be the same.
How Is the Court with Territorial Jurisdiction Determined?
According to Article 214 of the Turkish Civil Code:
- If the matrimonial property regime has ended by death, the court of the deceased’s last place of residence
- If it concerns divorce, annulment of the marriage or a transition to separation of property by judicial decision, the court with territorial jurisdiction in those actions
- In other cases, the court of the respondent spouse’s place of residence
has territorial jurisdiction. A foreign element, a counterclaim or an action against a third party may change the examination of territorial jurisdiction.
What Stages Does the Action Go Through?
| Stage | Step taken | Critical check |
|---|---|---|
| File preparation | Regime/date matrix, inventory of assets and debts, analysis of records and injunctions | Time limits must not be left waiting because of the risk of diverting assets |
| Filing of the action | Type of claim, amount, fee, interest, evidence and injunction are submitted | Each asset and legal ground should be made as concrete as possible |
| Pleadings | Response, reply to the response, rejoinder and, if any, counterclaim | Procedural time limits must be protected for new facts and claims |
| Preliminary examination | Procedural prerequisites, initial objections, points of dispute and evidence are determined | Missing institutional records and requests on prejudicial issues should be placed clearly on the record |
| Investigation phase | Land registry, bank, company, tax and other records are collected; witnesses may be heard and an on-site examination may be conducted | It should be checked whether the records arrive complete by period and account |
| Expert | A report is obtained according to expertise in finance, companies, real estate, actuarial science or information technology | The legal characterization belongs to the judge; calculation assumptions should be tested one by one |
| Judgment | Receivable, interest, litigation costs and attorney’s fee are decided | Exceeding the claim, incomplete judgment and enforceability should be checked |
| Legal remedies | Appeal (regional court of appeal) and appeal to the Court of Cassation, if the conditions are met | Adverse calculation, rejection of evidence and insufficient reasoning should be made concrete |
| Enforcement/payment | Monetary claim, payment in kind, deferral, security and enforcement abroad are assessed | The conditions for finalization and enforcement of the judgment should be examined part by part |
How Should Fees, Experts and Litigation Costs Be Planned?
Because the matrimonial property regime receivable can be measured in money, the fee and the risk of the opposing attorney’s fee are tied to the amount of the claim. The initial fee, the claim increase / amendment (ıslah) fee, service and official-inquiry expenses, on-site examination, and the expert fees for different fields of expertise are separate items. Because the annual schedules change, no fixed figure should be given in the main article; the Law on Fees (Harçlar Kanunu) schedule, advance-on-costs schedule, expert fee schedule and Minimum Attorney Fee Schedule (Avukatlık Asgari Ücret Tarifesi) in force on the date the action will be filed should be checked from official sources.
For a current check, the Ministry of Justice (Adalet Bakanlığı) Minimum Expert Fee Schedules and the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (Türkiye Barolar Birliği) Minimum Attorney Fee Schedules can be used. These alone do not show the attorney’s fee to be freely agreed with the client, the concrete advance on costs, or the expert fee the court will determine at its discretion.
Setting up the claim higher than necessary can create not only an additional fee but also a risk of the opposing attorney’s fee and litigation costs for the rejected part. Setting it up lower than necessary or with the wrong type of action can create the risk of the statute of limitations, claim increase and incomplete judgment.
Which Claims Should Be Stated Expressly in the Petition?
The petition should not be set up merely as “giving half of the assets.” At the very least:
- The dates of the marriage, the divorce and the matrimonial property regime
- The distinguishing record of each known asset
- The date of acquisition of the asset and the asserted source of financing
- The legal ground of participation, share in increased value, contribution, equalization, return or in rem right
- From which institution the unknown records will be requested
- The type of action and the initial amount of the claim
- The claims for interest, injunction and litigation costs
- The facts of gratuitous transfer, third parties and added value
should be made concrete.
Can a New Asset Be Added Later?
It should not be assumed that an independent asset item not appearing at all in the claim or in the facts can be added at a later stage of the proceedings solely by amendment (ıslah). The prohibition on expanding claims and defenses, the other party’s express consent, full/partial amendment, an additional action and consolidation options are examined according to the file. For this reason, searching for assets before filing and making the records concrete in the petition are critically important.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I Request Property Division in the Divorce File or in a Separate Action?
The matrimonial property regime receivable is not a consequence of the divorce judgment that is decided automatically. A separate claim, a statement of facts and the fee required for the receivable are needed. Even if put forward in the same petition, the liquidation claim can be separated; if the divorce has not yet become final, its outcome can be awaited. Writing only “my rights are reserved” in the divorce petition does not mean that a claim for the receivable has been filed.
Can Evidence Be Submitted Again in a Property Division Action Separated from the Divorce File?
The separation of the file does not reset all past procedural acts. Evidence presented in time should be transferred to the separated file; it should be explained which fact the new evidence proves. Submitting evidence later is subject to the Code of Civil Procedure’s rules on time limits, the expansion of claims and defenses, and late evidence. The separation decision is not a general opportunity that restarts all the time limits a party has missed.
Can Property Division Actions Filed by Spouses Against Each Other Be Heard Together?
If there is a connection between the actions, consolidation can be considered. However, each spouse must put forward his or her own receivable, the assets relied upon and the facts in accordance with procedure. Not every action between the same persons is necessarily consolidated. Subject-matter jurisdiction, territorial jurisdiction, the stage of the action and the consolidation provisions amended in 2026 are checked. Consolidation does not cause a receivable that the other party has not separately claimed to be decided automatically.
Which Claims Must Be Stated Expressly in a Property Division Petition?
The identity of each asset, the date of acquisition, the source of the money, the contribution made, the amount of the receivable claimed and the request for interest must be stated expressly. If protection is needed, the subject and the grounds of the injunction are stated separately. Where there are multiple receivables or assets, the amounts and the events are separated. The judge’s power of legal characterization does not allow the judge to add on his or her own motion facts that are not in the petition or a result that was not requested.
Which Court Hears a Property Division Dispute?
A dispute over the liquidation of the matrimonial property regime between spouses is heard in the family court. In a place where there is no family court, the civil court of first instance designated for the purpose acts as a family court. Even if connected with the same event, the court with subject-matter jurisdiction is determined separately for claims such as simulation against a third party or dissolution of co-ownership. The choice of court does not rest solely on the parties being married or former spouses.
In Which City Can I File a Property Division Action?
Where the regime ends by death, the deceased spouse’s last place of residence; in the case of divorce, annulment or separation of property by court decision, the court with territorial jurisdiction for those actions is taken as the basis. In other cases, the respondent spouse’s place of residence is taken into account. These rules are regulated in Article 214 of the Turkish Civil Code. The place where the immovable property is located is not automatically the sole place of jurisdiction in every monetary claim action.
If I Do Not Know the Value of the Asset, Which Type of Action Can I Use in 2026?
As of October 9, 2026, the earlier explanation of the “action for an indeterminate claim” should not be used for newly filed actions. With Law No. 7589, Article 107 of the Code of Civil Procedure has been repealed; a special claim increase in a partial action has been added to Article 109. For a receivable whose value cannot yet be determined, the scope of the claim, the initial amount and the time of the increase should be set up under this new rule. In previously filed actions, the transitional provision applies separately.
Is It Possible to Sue for Only Part of the Property Division Receivable?
Part of a divisible receivable can be sued upon. Paragraph four of the current Article 109 gives the possibility of increasing the claim once in the same action and until the end of the investigation phase; for the increased part, the statute of limitations is deemed interrupted as of the date of filing. This rule does not mean that every asset or a new receivable can be added without limit. The scope of the claim, the fee and the interest are examined separately.
How Can Writing the Name of the Receivable Incorrectly in the Petition Affect the Outcome of the Action?
The judge applies the law on his or her own motion; a party’s using the wrong name for the receivable does not cause the action to be lost in every case. However, the judge cannot add facts that were not put forward or give a different result that was not requested. For this reason, the date of acquisition, the contribution, the source and the amount sought should be clear. Correcting a legal label and putting forward a new asset or a new receivable are different procedural matters.
When Filing an Action, Can I Make a Claim Only for the Assets I Know or Choose?
A claim can be set up on the basis of known or chosen assets; however, this differs from a partial action for a receivable. Not including an asset in the claim at all is not the same as requesting only part of the receivable relating to that asset. Adding a new asset later is examined from the standpoint of expansion of the claim, amendment (ıslah) or a separate action. A reservation clause does not remove every procedural obstacle.
Is the Receivable of a Spouse Who Has Not Filed a Counterclaim Also Calculated Automatically?
The judge does not decide on all the independent receivables of both spouses without a claim. If the respondent wants a judgment in his or her own favor, a counterclaim or a separate action may be needed. By contrast, a set-off response and the mutual receivable calculation regulated in Article 236 serve different functions. A response and an independent collection claim should be kept apart; the facts and amounts put forward should be clarified.
If the Expert Calculation Comes Out Higher Than the Amount I Claimed, Which Procedural Routes Are Examined?
The court cannot exceed the claim. In new partial actions, the possibility of an increase once and until the end of the investigation phase under paragraph four of Article 109 is assessed; the necessary fee is completed. In indeterminate-claim actions filed before July 31, 2026, the former regime is also important under the transitional provision. An expert report coming out higher does not mean the claim rises automatically.
How Is the Court Where the Application Is Made Determined in a Contribution Claim Action?
Contribution disputes arising from the matrimonial property regime applied in the marriage fall within the subject-matter jurisdiction of the family court. The obligation relationship on which an engagement or a joint investment outside marriage is based is not automatically subject to the same jurisdiction rule. Writing “contribution claim” in the title of the action does not resolve the subject-matter jurisdiction issue. The time of the events, the relationship between the parties and the legal ground of the claim should be examined together.
Is a Counterclaim Required for the Respondent to Also Claim a Receivable in a Contribution Claim Action?
If the respondent only asks for the action to be dismissed, the respondent is making a response; if the respondent wants an independent receivable to be awarded in his or her own favor, a counterclaim or a separate action is considered. The function of a set-off response is different and its conditions are sought separately. A statement such as “I also paid money” does not turn into a collection claim in every case. The time limit, the fee, the facts and the amount of the counter-receivable should be set up clearly.
Is It Possible to File an Action for Part of a Contribution Claim?
Part of a divisible contribution claim can be sued upon. The current partial action provisions regulate the time of the claim increase, the one-time possibility and the effect on the statute of limitations. The asset and the contribution that are the subject of the action and the initial amount should be shown clearly. The claim increase does not have the same consequences in every respect as to interest, fees and putting forward new facts.
Related Articles
- How Is Property Divided in Divorce? A Guide to Matrimonial Property Regime Actions
- How Can Diverting Assets in Divorce Be Prevented? Interim Injunction and Transfer to a Third Party
- How Are Assets Investigated in a Property Division Action? Bank, Land Registry and Other Evidence
- The Statute of Limitations in a Property Division Action: Starting Date and Risks of Loss of Rights
- Economic Violence in Property Division and Secure Document Collection: How Are Rights Protected?
Documents for Preparing for the Consultation
To record your assets and debts separately, organize the dates of events and identify missing documents, an inventory of assets and debts, a timeline of events and payment dates, and a form for preparing for the first meeting with an attorney can be used. These working documents do not by themselves create a lawsuit or a legal time-limit calculation.
This article is for general legal information. In a specific dispute, the dates of the events, the documents, the type of claim and the time limits are assessed together.
Sources and legal bases
- Turkish Civil Code No. 4721 (Türk Medeni Kanunu)
- Code of Civil Procedure No. 6100 (Hukuk Muhakemeleri Kanunu)
- Law No. 4787 on the Establishment, Duties and Trial Procedures of Family Courts (Aile Mahkemelerinin Kuruluş, Görev ve Yargılama Usullerine Dair Kanun)
- Law No. 6325 on Mediation in Civil Disputes (Hukuk Uyuşmazlıklarında Arabuluculuk Kanunu)
- Law No. 7589 Amending Certain Laws for the Effective and Efficient Functioning of the Judiciary (Yargının Etkin ve Verimli İşlemesine Yönelik Bazı Kanunlarda Değişiklik Yapılmasına Dair Kanun)