Inheritance Law in Turkey

Those who own and want to invest in real estate in Turkey often ask about inheritance tax. So what is the succession mechanism and related laws in Turkey?

Is it possible for the state to acquire property after the death of a foreign investor?

Is there an inheritance tax? Are Turks taxed differently than foreigners?

Every investor cares about many issues of Türkiye's real estate heritage.

In this article, you will find a comprehensive guide and explanation of all the issues some investors are still unaware of, because Turkish inheritance laws guarantee the protection of your property.

How to make a will and succession law:

If you become the owner of a house or villa in Turkey, it goes without saying that the issue of property inheritance is relevant to you, as the inheritance laws in Turkey are similar to those of similar institutions in other European countries.

How to transfer an inheritance in Turkey and how to draft the related documents correctly mainly concerns foreigners who own real estate in Turkey and have citizenship of other countries.

Principles of Foreigners Inheriting Real Estate in Türkiye

Turkey adopts the principle of "location of immovable property" to determine the way foreigners inherit property. The principle of location stipulates that the legal distribution of inheritance and the way in which succession occurs conforms to the laws of the country where the property is located. Where you live, i.e. the inheritance laws of Türkiye.

However, there are some exceptions related to real estate inheritance laws in Turkey, the following are the types of inheritance in Turkish law:
When applying for limited succession in Turkey, the real estate inheritance laws applicable in Turkey apply.

If one of the legal heirs objects to the method of division of the estate, he has the right to apply for a restriction of succession according to the laws of the country of which the deceased owner was a citizen, not according to the inheritance laws of Turkey.

The Inheritance Limitation Act is approved after ensuring that no will is duly certified by a "notary", one of the offices of Notre in Turkey.

The question here is, does Turkish law inherit all non-Turkish heritage?

Yes, all the estate of the deceased will be distributed to the heirs after the settlement of the estate

Documents required to transfer title to heirs:

• Family declaration (list of inheritance) from the population authority of his country, stating who the heirs are and how good the relationship is, notarized and translated into Turkish.
• Register with the Turkish tax registry and obtain tax ID numbers for all heirs.
• 2 personal photos per person.
• Passport valid for at least six months and translated into Turkish.

Who are the direct heirs of Turkish property?

In the absence of a duly certified will, the legal heirs to the real property are determined in the following order:

• The first heirs of the deceased are the children and the husband or wife who gets a certain share.
• If the deceased has no children, his family is considered his heirs (father and mother).
• In the absence of children and parents, the husband/wife shares the estate with the deceased's grandfather or his brother.
• According to the sequence of Turkish inheritance law, the last heirs of the deceased are the grandchildren and their children.
• If the deceased has no living relatives, all their property goes to the husband or wife.
• If there is no heir at all, all assets of the deceased will be owned by the Turkish government.

Under Turkish law, women own half of the property and children half, with an equal ratio of men to women, leading investors to question their ability to follow their country's laws regarding division of inheritance, which is permissible and applies to all heirs.

Inheritance Tax on Inheritance and Transfer of Ownership:

If the inherited or transferred property exists in the Republic of Turkey, the foreigner is subject to the Inheritance and Transfer Tax Law, regardless of whether the heir resides in or outside Turkey, if he/she receives money through inheritance or transfer without compensation.

However, the value of inheritance tax in Turkey is relatively low compared to other countries in the EU and varies according to the value of the investor's property, as a lower percentage of the tax is deducted when property prices fall.

The estate tax rate ranges from 1% to 10%, depending on the residence status of the heirs and the geographic location of the property.