After Turkey has become the first destination for Arab investors in recent times, light has been shed on a number of topics and questions that always occupy the minds of real estate investors in Turkey so that they are fully aware of them before starting their investment work in this country, and one of the most prominent of these topics is the issue of inheritance and the law Real estate inheritance, especially that the Turkish inheritance law differs from the laws applied in the Arab countries. In this article, Acuad will provide you with information that may contain answers to all questions related to the law of inheritance.
The investor may be confused when thinking about the inheritance law that applies to his property after his death, does Turkish law apply? Or the law of his country of origin?
In Article 20/1 of the Turkish Inheritance Law, the inheritance is subject to the national law, meaning the law of the Turkish state, which means that the Turkish law will be applied regarding the properties of the deceased in Turkey without regard to the mother’s nationality that he holds, but there are two cases in which the law of the country of the deceased may be applied after opening A lawsuit if the inheritance is real estate and without the need to open an inheritance if the inheritance is movable money.
These two cases are:
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If the deceased foreigner holds the nationality of one of the signatory countries to the Hague Convention, his heirs can demand the application of the law of their country after submitting the inheritance determination documents translated and certified by the notary public.
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If there is a reciprocity agreement between Turkey and the state of the deceased, and this state was not part of The Hague Treaty, then the Turkish state treats him the same treatment that the Turks receive in this country.
Who are the legal heirs in Turkish law?
If there is no notarized will, the inheritance is distributed as follows:
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The first heirs of a deceased person are the children and the husband or wife who receive a specified share
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If the deceased person has no children, then his family are his heirs (father and mother)
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If the deceased's family is not alive, his siblings come directly in the inheritance line
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The last heirs of the deceased person according to the hierarchical order in the Turkish inheritance law are the grandchildren and their children.
If the deceased person does not have any living relatives, then all his property goes to the husband or wife, and in the event that there are no heirs at all, all his property goes to the Turkish government.
What is the way to limit the inheritance in Turkey?
The method varies according to the nationality of the deceased person:
If the person is Turkish, the hospital that issued the death statement automatically sends it to the relevant government departments, after which the document informing the heirs is extracted, the inheritance fees are paid, and the court proceeds to distribute it according to Turkish law
If the person is a foreigner, it can be distributed according to Turkish law or the law of the foreign country after submitting the required documents that prove the death of the testator, translated and certified, and submitting the application to the court.
Documents required determining the inheritance of foreigners in Turkey
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"Information of Genetics" document translated and certified by the Notary Department
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The family statement translated and certified by the Noter Department
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Valid passport
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Inheritance tax in Turkey
The value of the inheritance tax in Turkey is relatively low and varies depending on the value of the investor's property, as a tax is deducted at a lower percentage whenever real estate prices in Turkey decrease.
The inheritance tax rate varies between 1% to 10%, depending on the value of the inheritance, the residency status of the heir, and the geographical location of the property.
According to Turkish law, the due inheritance tax is paid within a maximum period of 3 years, and it is paid in May and November of each year.
These are the inheritance rights in the Turkish inheritance law. This situation varies according to the relatives of the deceased who live (children, mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, brothers and others) and if the deceased does not have any legal heirs and if he does not have a will written according to Turkish law, the entire money remains for the state treasury of the Republic of Turkey.