Inheritance mechanism and inheritance law in Turkey

Turkey is flourishing in recent times at all levels, commercial, urban and tourism, many investors, foreigners, business men are interested in investing in Turkeyas its geographical location, the abundance of manpower of all nationalities, and the architectural renaissance that the country is witnessing and building real estate that conforms to European standards at cheaper prices than any foreign country, all these factors has contributed to make it a destination for investors to purchase a property in Turkey, but there’s one thing that concerns anyone looking towards Ownership in Turkey , it’s the inheritance topic in Turkey.

What is the inheritance law in Turkey?

Inheritance law in Turkey includes all the inherited funds, real estate, movable and immovable funds as well as:

1-Bank account fands or cash funds.

2-All properties such as: vehicles, real estate, commercial facilities, companies, lands, and everything belongs to the deceased person.

the heirs must obtain a document declaring the inheritance from the notary, as this document shows the shares of the heirs, and the share of each of them in the property of the deceased person in detail.

Can real estate be inherited in Turkey? And who are the heirs in the Turkish law?

In the case of absence of a notary certified official will, the legal heirs to immovable property are determined in the following hierarchical order:

1-The first to inherit the deceased person are their children, husband or wife who receive a specific share.

2. If the deceased person does not have any children, then their parents will be their heirs (mother and father) alongside their wife/husband.

3-In case of absence of the children and parents, the wife/husband would share the inheritance with the deceased’s grandfather or their siblings.

4-The last heirs for the deceased according to the hierarchical order of the Turkish inheritance law are their grandsons and their sons.

5-If the deceased does not have any alive relatives, their properties go to the wife/husband.

6-In the absence of any relatives, all the properties go to the Turkish government.

7-The deceased’s properties are distributed among the previous categories after clearing the legator’s debts, if any, so the debts of the deceased are paid at banks, or installments, or by any kind of mortgage.

8-According to the Turkish law, the wife gets half the properties, and the children gets the other half, the male and female shares are equal, which arises the question by the investors about the ability to apply their country’s law in distributing the inheritance, which is allowed in case it applied to all the heirs.

Mechanism of determination of inheritance:

determination of inheritance mechanism in Turkish law is based on equality, as long as there’s no official notary certified will, regarding the foreign heirs, they should provide inheritance declaration data, as well as family statements from the deceased’s country, translate them to Turkish and certify them from the notary, under the condition that the deceased’s country is on the list of the countries that signed The Hague’s agreement, or if there is a principle of reciprocity between Turkey and the country of the deceased.

If the deceased’s country does not meet the previous conditions, the heirs must file a lawsuit in the Turkish court to demand a statement of inheritance from Turkey, the court then would verify death statement, and identify who are the persons concerned with the inheritance, that’s after making contacts with the competent authorities in the country of the deceased person, and then the inheritance is distributed in the usual manner.

Required documents for a foreigner inheritance determination:

The heirs should provide some documents to start the inheritance determination in the Turkish court which are:

1-Death statement.

2-Family statement translated to Turkish and certified by the notary.

3. A valid passport.

4-Biometric images.

Deceased’s will in Turkey:

The Turkish court would never distribute the inheritance unless they verify that the deceased person has not left any will that moves ownership of their funds partially or totally to specific persons, even if they’re out of the inheritance order, as the Turkish court is very interested in executing the will of the deceased, provided that the will is certified by the notary.

The will is a statement signed by the deceased before their death, clarifying their properties and the way to distribute it among their heirs, or even to persons not concerned with inheritance, and it’s recommended when writing it to use a specialized lawyer.

Will types in Turkey:

1-An official will, written by one of the notary employees, and certified by them, this is the best type of wills and most accepted in the Turkish courts.

2-The manual will write in the handwriting of the testator, and the date of its writing and signature are mentioned in it, and it must also be documented in the Notary Department in order to be approved.

3-An oral will, and this is accepted in Turkish law in the event that the testator is seriously ill, as he dictates his will to the witnesses, and one of them writes it and the witnesses sign their testimony, and it must also be certified by the notary public.

Inheritance tax in Turkey:

Foreigners are subject to the inheritance and transfer tax law in case the inherited funds and transferred are within the Turkish republic borders, whether the heir lives in or outside Turkey, this is in the case they get the funds as an inheritance or as a transfer free of charge, but comparing to other counties in the European Union, the tax rate in Turkey is considered relatively low and changes depending on the value of the properties, as the tax rate is deducted at a lower percentage when prices in Turkey has witnessed are lower, the tax rate changes between 1% to 10% depending on the residence type of the heir and the location of the inherited property, therefore, when the foreign properties are subject to the Turkish low, it will certainly be subject to the inheritance and transfer tax law. The tax recognizes two different property types, and each of them is subject to a different rate, one of them is transferred to the owner free of charge through bounties or donations, and the other one is obtained as an inheritance, the tax rates has been determined according to the article 16 of the 7338 law by increasing the stipulated revaluation rate, and accordingly inheritance taxes are calculated according to the value of the property (tax subtraction).

Does inheritance tax apply to foreigners in Turkey?

If both the inheritor and the heir are citizens of foreign countries, the inheritance process for the property within Turkey is subject to the regulation of the law according to article 1 of the Turkish Inheritance and Transfer of Property Tax Law. The heirs in this case should submit inheritance statement that shows that these properties are in Turkey, submission of the tax statement in the tax departments in the foreign country does not cancel the submission of the statement in Turkey, while the heirs are not required to submit a tax statement of succession and transfer of ownership of the property outside Turkey when the inheritor and heir are foreigners.

If the heirs reside in the same foreign country in which the death occurred, then according to Article 9 of the Law of Succession and Transfer of Ownership, the tax statement must be submitted within four months from the date of death.

When to pay the inheritance tax in Turkey?

According to the Turkish law, due inheritance tax should be paid within a maximum period of 3 years, to be paid in May and November of each year.

Is it possible to prevent inheritance in Turkey?

In some cases, it is possible to prevent inheritance for one heir, but the subject person should explain the reason for that before the court in case they want to prevent a specific legal person from their inheritance. The prevented person cannot sue the person concerned.

Finally, after explaining all the ins and outs of the inheritance system in Turkey, as well as the inheritance and transfer tax, you can be assured of the integrity of the laws and procedures related to purchasing your next property in Turkey with complete reliability and safety, especially if it is done through Europ Homes Real Estate , because this guarantees the fate of your investment in the future.