Turkish Inheritance Law: What Foreign Property Owners Should Know

Owning property in Türkiye is often the first step in a longer relationship with the country — but few foreign buyers stop to consider what happens to that property when they pass away. Turkish inheritance law applies to real estate located in Türkiye regardless of the owner's nationality, which can produce outcomes very different from what a foreign owner's home-country plan intended.

Why Turkish Law Applies to Turkish Property

Under Turkish private international law, the succession of immovable property situated in Türkiye is generally governed by Turkish law, even if the deceased was a foreign national domiciled elsewhere. This means a will drafted and validated abroad does not automatically override the inheritance rules that apply to a Turkish title deed. Foreign owners are frequently surprised to learn that Turkish law reserves a mandatory share of an estate for certain close relatives — a "forced heirship" concept that limits how freely an owner can redirect property through a will.

What This Means in Practice

For a foreign property owner, this creates two practical questions: who actually inherits the property under Turkish rules, and how that transfer is formally recognized at the Land Registry. Resolving both usually requires a Turkish-law compatible will, a recognized inheritance certificate (either from a Turkish court or, in some cases, a properly apostilled and translated foreign equivalent), and coordination between the owner's home-country estate plan and their Turkish assets so the two do not quietly conflict.

• Confirming which forced-heirship rules apply to the specific family situation
• Reviewing whether an existing foreign will adequately addresses Turkish real estate
• Preparing the inheritance certificate and Land Registry transfer in parallel, not sequentially

A will written for one legal system rarely transfers cleanly into another — and Turkish real estate does not wait for that conflict to be resolved before an inheritance dispute can begin.

How POA Helps

We work with foreign property owners to align their broader estate planning with the specific rules that apply to Turkish-registered real estate, and represent heirs through the inheritance certificate and title transfer process when the time comes. Early planning is almost always simpler — and less costly — than resolving a dispute after the fact.