What Law Applies to Your Inheritance in Turkey? The Forced Heirship Question for Foreign Nationals

We regularly hear two questions from our foreign clients: "I drafted a will under my own country's law — does it also govern my home in Turkey?" and "My spouse (or parent) was a Turkish citizen and I am a foreign national — do I have a reserved share in their estate in Turkey?" Both questions turn on the same point: how Turkey's private international law rule on inheritance interacts with the country's forced heirship system.

This article sets out the governing statutory provision and the core forced heirship rules, quoting the law directly, to clarify the point that most often causes confusion in cross-border inheritance matters involving Turkey.

1. Which Law Governs Inheritance in Turkey? MÖHUK Article 20

Inheritance matters with a foreign element are governed by Article 20 of Law No. 5718 on Private International Law and International Civil Procedure ("MÖHUK"). The article reads, in relevant part:

(1) Inheritance is governed by the national law of the deceased. Turkish law applies to immovable property located in Turkey.

(2) The rules governing the opening, acquisition and division of the estate are governed by the law of the country where the estate is located.

(3) An estate located in Turkey with no heirs passes to the State.

(4) The formal validity of testamentary dispositions is governed by Article 7. A testamentary disposition made in accordance with the form required by the deceased's national law is also valid.

(5) Testamentary capacity is governed by the disposing party's national law at the time the disposition was made.

— MÖHUK Art. 20 (Law No. 5718), unofficial translation; original Turkish text available on request

This provision sets up a two-tier system. As a general rule, inheritance is governed by the deceased's national law — so, for example, a British national's movable assets and bank accounts located anywhere in the world are, as a rule, distributed under English inheritance law. Immediately after stating that general rule, however, the article carves out a clear exception: immovable property located in Turkey is governed by Turkish law, regardless of the deceased's nationality. This is the inheritance-law expression of the lex rei sitae principle — the rule that the law of the place where the property is situated applies.

2. What Is Forced Heirship (Saklı Pay) Under Turkish Law?

One of the defining features of Turkish inheritance law is its forced heirship system, which limits the testator's freedom to dispose of their estate. The law guarantees certain close relatives a minimum share that cannot be taken away even by a will or an inheritance contract. Article 506 of the Turkish Civil Code (Law No. 4721, "TMK") sets out the reserved-share ratios as follows:

The reserved share consists of the following proportions:

1. For descendants, one-half of the statutory inheritance share;

2. For each parent, one-quarter of the statutory inheritance share;

3. (Repealed: Law No. 5650, Art. 2, dated 4/5/2007)

4. For the surviving spouse, the entire statutory share where inheriting together with the descendants' or parents' class, and three-quarters of the statutory share in other cases.

— TMK Art. 506 — Reserved share, unofficial translation

Descendants (children and their own descendants) rank as first-degree statutory heirs and form the starting point for calculating the reserved share, as set out in TMK Article 495: "The deceased's first-degree heirs are their descendants. Children inherit in equal shares. Where a child predeceases the testator, that child's own descendants take their place by representation, at every generation." (TMK Art. 495)

3. The Real Issue for Foreign Nationals: Forced Heirship Applies Even If Your Home Country Doesn't Recognize It

In many legal systems — most notably England and Wales, and certain U.S. states, both rooted in the common law tradition — testamentary freedom is nearly unlimited and the concept of a reserved share does not exist at all. A person may leave their entire estate to a single beneficiary of their choosing. That difference, combined with the second sentence of MÖHUK Art. 20(1) quoted above, produces a critical consequence for foreign testators and heirs: even where the deceased's national law does not recognize forced heirship at all, Turkish law — and with it, Turkey's forced heirship regime — applies to any immovable property located in Turkey.

In other words, a will validly drafted under English law that leaves the entirety of an estate to a single heir remains effective for the testator's assets in their home jurisdiction, but it cannot override the rights of the reserved-share heirs (descendants, parents, surviving spouse) with respect to a villa or apartment the testator owned in Antalya. Under MÖHUK Art. 20(2), the rules governing the division of the estate are likewise governed by the law of the country where the estate — here, the immovable property — is located, which again points to Turkish law.

4. When Forced Heirship Is Violated: The Reduction Action (Tenkis Davası)

An heir whose reserved share has been infringed has recourse under TMK Article 560, which governs the reduction action (tenkis davası):

Heirs who have not received the value of their reserved share may bring an action for the reduction of dispositions that exceed the portion the testator was entitled to dispose of freely.

Rules concerning the shares of statutory heirs contained in a disposition are treated merely as rules of division, unless it is apparent from the disposition that the testator intended otherwise.

— TMK Art. 560 — Reduction action, unofficial translation

Because of this provision, the reserved-share heirs of a foreign national who owned immovable property in Turkey may bring a reduction action before the Turkish courts — even where the law of the testator's home country would not recognize such a claim at all — and can obtain the statutory minimum share to which they are entitled under Turkish law.

5. Practical Takeaways for Foreign Heirs and Testators

Foreign nationals who own real estate in Turkey should take the forced heirship limits into account when drafting a will, in order to reduce the risk of a future reduction action.

A foreign spouse or children inheriting from a Turkish national may be subject to Turkey's forced heirship system with respect to that person's immovable property in Turkey; assets located abroad are assessed separately, under a different law.

A certificate of inheritance (veraset ilamı) issued abroad may need to be formally recognized before it can be used in Turkey — a separate procedural question from the choice-of-law issue addressed by MÖHUK Art. 20.

Every case turns on the combination of the deceased's nationality, the type of asset (movable or immovable) and its location. The information above is general in nature and is not a substitute for advice on a specific set of facts.

Conclusion

Cross-border inheritance matters involving foreign nationals who own real estate in Turkey, or Turkish citizens living abroad, call for a careful, case-specific analysis because of how MÖHUK Art. 20 balances the deceased's national law against the lex rei sitae rule for immovable property. For an assessment of your specific situation, you are welcome to get in touch with NISANCI Attorneys at Law (Antalya).

Sources

Law No. 5718 on Private International Law and International Civil Procedure (MÖHUK), Art. 20.

Turkish Civil Code, Law No. 4721 (TMK), Arts. 495, 506, 560.