Inheritance and Estate Recovery in Türkiye for Foreign Heirs

Who this is for

This page is for foreign heirs — people living outside Türkiye who have inherited, or believe they have inherited, assets that sit in Türkiye. Typically that means one of the following:

• A parent, spouse or relative died owning property in Türkiye (an apartment, a villa, land, or a share in one).
• The deceased held Turkish bank accounts that the bank has now frozen.
• There are other Turkish assets — a vehicle, company shares, or money owed to the deceased.
• You hold a foreign will or foreign grant of probate and need to know whether it works in Türkiye.

The deceased may have been a Turkish citizen, a foreigner, or a dual national; you may be one of several heirs, some in Türkiye and some abroad. All of these are common situations, and the route below applies to each, with details that depend on your exact facts.

The legal route and which law applies

Two things decide how the estate is handled: which law governs the inheritance, and what document Turkish authorities will accept before they release an asset.

Under Türkiye's private international law statute (MÖHUK, Law No. 5718), succession is split. Immovable property located in Türkiye — land and buildings registered at the land registry — is governed by Turkish succession law, whatever the deceased's nationality (art. 20). Movable assets, such as bank balances, generally follow the national law of the deceased. This is why outcomes for the house and for the bank account can differ. How these rules apply to your case should be checked on your exact facts, including the deceased's nationality and any relevant treaty.

Separately, to actually claim anything you almost always need a Turkish certificate of inheritance (veraset ilamı / mirasçılık belgesi). This is a formal record of who the heirs are and what share each takes. The land registry (tapu müdürlüğü) and Turkish banks will generally not act on a foreign succession document on its own — even an apostilled and translated one. Where one of the heirs is a foreign national, the certificate is usually obtained through the civil court of peace (sulh hukuk mahkemesi), because a notary typically cannot issue it in those cases.

What you can recover or achieve

Once the certificate of inheritance is in place, each type of asset is dealt with separately:

• Property (title transfer / intikal): the deceased's share is registered into the heirs' names at the land registry. After that, heirs can hold, rent out, or sell the property.
• Bank accounts: frozen balances are released to the heirs in their lawful shares once the bank has the Turkish certificate and the tax step below is satisfied.
• Other assets: vehicles, company shares and similar holdings are transferred to the heirs through their own registries.

What you ultimately receive depends on the lawful shares under the applicable law, any valid will, debts of the estate, and the facts of your case. We cannot promise a particular result or amount.

Every foreign document takes the same road.Apostille or consular legalisation, then a sworn Turkish translation — the step that most often delays an estate.

How long you have

Your status as an heir does not simply expire. But several time limits can matter a great deal in practice, and they should be checked against your exact facts, not treated as settled:

• The inheritance and transfer tax declaration has its own filing period after the death — generally within months, and the period can differ depending on where the death occurred and where the heirs are. Late filing can mean penalties.
• If you may want to refuse (disclaim) the estate — for example because the deceased had debts — there is a short statutory period to do so, generally calculated from when you learn of the death and of your status as an heir.
• Claims to recover the estate from someone wrongly holding it, and certain claims between heirs, run on their own limitation periods.

How it works when you are abroad

You normally do not need to travel to Türkiye. The process is generally run remotely:

• You sign a power of attorney (vekaletname) authorising us to act — usually before a notary in your country, then apostilled (or legalised at a Turkish consulate where the apostille does not apply), or signed directly at a Turkish consulate.
• Documents in another language — the power of attorney, the death certificate, any will, and identity documents — are prepared with sworn (and where needed notarised) Turkish translations.
• We file for the certificate of inheritance, handle the tax declaration, and then carry out the title transfer and account release on your behalf.

Where a foreign will or foreign court grant exists, we assess whether it can be relied on directly or whether it needs a recognition step (tanıma / tenfiz) in Türkiye before it can be used here. Which route fits depends on the document and your circumstances.

How we work and next step

We are a licensed Turkish lawyer (avukat) and act as your counsel of record — this is legal representation, not a debt-collection or claims-buying service. The usual path:

• Review: you tell us who died, what assets are in Türkiye, and what documents you hold. We explain, in plain English, the likely route and the realistic steps.
• Engagement: fees are explained clearly at the outset. We can typically work on a success-fee basis within the limits Turkish law allows; the Advocacy Act (Avukatlık Kanunu) art. 164 caps a percentage success fee at 25% and does not permit a pure share of the asset.
• Execution: with your power of attorney in place, we obtain the certificate, deal with the tax office, and complete the transfers — keeping you updated throughout.

To start, send us the names, the date and place of death, a list of the Turkish assets you know about, and copies of any will, death certificate and identity documents. See also our related pages on recovering and transferring property in Türkiye and recovering money owed in Türkiye.

An honest note

Estate matters can be straightforward or genuinely complex. Things that affect the work include: multiple heirs who must all be identified and notified; disputes between heirs or with third parties occupying the property; debts of the estate; an unclear or contested will; and missing or untraceable documents from years ago.

This page is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create a lawyer-client relationship. The right strategy, the documents you need, and the time limits that apply all turn on your specific facts, which a Turkish avukat must review before advising you.

📚 Deep Dive: Read our step-by-step explainer on the Veraset İlamı process and unblocking Turkish bank accounts for foreign heirs.