The family in Germany has to decide quickly what to secure and what not to touch. This guide explains, from the estate annex to the 1929 Turkish-German Consular Convention and the Turkish Civil Code, how the estate is protected, what the German consul may do, why heirs should not draw on the deceased's accounts too early, the three-month period to reject an inheritance where Turkish law applies, and how heirship is proved.
A retired steelworker from Duisburg dies in July in the village in central Anatolia where he spent every summer. A German widow who moved to Alanya ten years ago dies in her flat, and her son in Hamburg hears of it from a neighbour. A German-Turkish engineer from Stuttgart dies in a road accident near Izmir during a business trip. In each case, the family in Germany has two kinds of work at once: the funeral and the paperwork of a death abroad, and the estate in Türkiye, which may include a bank account, a car, belongings in a flat and a house or a plot of land.
This guide covers the estate side in the first weeks. It starts with the question that decides which rules apply, the deceased’s nationality, then sets out what the estate annex to the 1929 Turkish-German Consular Convention (Law No. 1634) allows the consul to do, how Turkish law protects an estate, why the deceased’s accounts should not be touched too early, the three-month period to reject an inheritance where Turkish law applies, and how heirship is proved. Tax is not covered. Transferring a house or land in Türkiye to the heirs is the subject of a separate guide in this series.
First question: which nationality did the deceased hold?
The 1929 Consular Convention between Türkiye and Germany has an annex on estates, attached to its Article 20. It deals with the estate of a national of one of the two states who dies in the territory of the other. Its rules, the consul’s powers among them, therefore apply to a German national who dies in Türkiye and leaves property there.
The annex also decides which law governs succession. Succession to movable property follows the law of the state of which the deceased was a national at death (paragraph 14(1)). Succession to immovable property follows the law of the state where it lies, as if the deceased had been a national of that state at death (paragraph 14(2)). Whether a given item is movable or immovable is decided by the law of the state where the estate lies (paragraph 12(3)).
For the families in this guide, three situations are common:
- The deceased was a German national. The annex applies. Movables, such as bank deposits, a car and personal belongings, pass under German law; a house or land in Türkiye passes under Turkish law.
- The deceased was a Turkish national living in Germany. The German consul has no role under the annex in Türkiye. The estate in Türkiye is dealt with by Turkish authorities and courts, and both movables and immovables there pass under Turkish law.
- The deceased held both nationalities. Which nationality counts is checked first, because the answer changes who acts and which law applies.
Protecting the estate: the local official and the consul
When a national of one state dies in the other, the local authorities must inform the competent consul of the deceased’s state without delay and pass on what they know about the heirs and their residence, the value and contents of the estate and any dispositions on death; if the consul learns of the death first, he informs the local authorities (estate annex, paragraph 1(1)).
Measures to preserve the movable estate are first for the local official, who limits himself to measures that keep the estate as it is, such as placing it under seal and drawing up an inventory, and who must in any case take the protective measures the consul requests (paragraph 2(1)). The consul may, with the participation of the local authorities, or alone if they have not yet acted, seal the movable estate and draw up an inventory under the rules of his own state (paragraph 2(2)). Local officials and the consul are bound to cooperate in preserving the estate (paragraph 2(3)).
Turkish law has its own protection. The civil judge of peace (sulh hâkimi) of the deceased’s domicile takes, on request or of his own motion, all measures needed to protect the estate and secure its passing to those entitled, in particular the inventory, sealing, official administration and the opening of wills (TMK Article 589). For a Turkish national’s estate, this is the route the family uses in the first weeks.
What the German consul may do with the movable estate
The annex gives the consul a role that goes well beyond notice. The consul may take over the settlement of the movable estate (paragraph 4), and then:
- Receive and collect. The consul is entitled to receive all items making up the estate, including the deceased’s papers held by private persons, notaries, banks, insurance companies, public funds or local officials, and to collect all receivables of the estate, under the same conditions as the deceased could. Where the estate or part of it is under attachment or sequestration, the consul cannot receive it until that is lifted (paragraph 5(1)).
- Wills. The consul may ask for the papers of the deceased’s dispositions on death to be handed over, even if they are with the local officials, who keep the right to open them first (paragraph 5(2)).
- Preserve and administer. It is the consul’s right and duty to take all measures useful to the heirs for preserving the estate or paying the deceased’s and heirs’ public law debts; the consul may administer the estate himself or through an agent appointed under his supervision (paragraph 6).
- Represent the heirs. In all matters relating to the opening, administration and settlement of the estate, the consul may represent heirs who are nationals of his state and have not appointed an agent in the other state, without having to produce a power of attorney; that representation ends when all those entitled are present in person or represented (paragraph 13).
Disputes over claims against the estate are pursued before, and settled by, the authorities of the state where the estate lies (paragraph 8), and property in the consul’s hands remains subject to enforcement proceedings (paragraph 9(1)).
The hand-over to the heirs has its own timetable. After three months from the last notice of the opening of the estate, or, if there was no notice, after four months from the death, the consul may hand the estate to heirs who have proved their rights, but only after public law debts, fiscal charges, estate accounts and costs, and claims lodged with the consul by nationals or residents of the state where the estate lies have been paid and secured in due form (paragraph 10).
Immovable property is different. The authorities of the state where it lies have the exclusive right and duty to take all measures under their own laws, as for the estates of their own nationals, and a certified copy of the inventory of the immovable estate is sent to the consul as quickly as possible (paragraph 12(1)).
Bank accounts and the deceased’s affairs: what not to do
The first weeks are when families most often pay bills from the deceased’s account, sell the car or empty the flat. Where Turkish law governs the succession, this has a legal consequence. An heir who, before the rejection period ends, meddles in the estate as an heir, carries out acts that go beyond its ordinary administration or beyond what is needed to carry on the deceased’s affairs, or conceals estate assets or appropriates them, can no longer reject the inheritance (TMK Article 610(2)). Bringing a lawsuit or starting enforcement to prevent limitation or forfeiture periods from expiring does not remove the right to reject (Article 610(3)).
In practice, that means: keep funeral and travel costs separate and paid from the family’s own funds, with receipts; do not sell or give away the deceased’s belongings; and collect information about the accounts and debts rather than moving money.
Rejecting an inheritance: three months under Turkish law
Where Turkish law governs the succession, the rules are in the Turkish Civil Code (TMK):
- Who may reject. Statutory and appointed heirs may reject the inheritance (Article 605(1)). If the deceased’s insolvency was obvious or officially established at death, the inheritance is deemed rejected (Article 605(2)).
- Period. The inheritance may be rejected within three months. For statutory heirs the period runs from the day they learned of the death, unless they prove that they learned later that they were heirs; for appointed heirs, from the official notification of the disposition (Article 606). Where the estate is inventoried as a protective measure, the period runs from the judge’s notice that the inventory is complete (Article 607).
- Form. The rejection is made by oral or written declaration to the civil court of peace and must be unconditional and without reservation; the judge records it, and a declaration made in time is entered in the special register of the court of the place where the estate opened (Article 609).
- Extension. For important reasons, the civil judge of peace may extend the period or grant a new one (Article 615).
- Official inventory. Any heir entitled to reject may ask for an official inventory of the estate, within one month, following the procedure for rejection (Article 619).
An heir who does not reject within the legal period acquires the inheritance unconditionally (Article 610(1)). For a German national’s movable estate, German law governs the succession (estate annex, paragraph 14(1)) and its own rules on rejection apply to that part; a Rechtsanwalt or Notar in Germany advises on them.
Proving heirship
Heirship in Türkiye is proved by a certificate of inheritance (mirasçılık belgesi). The civil court of peace or a notary issues one to those found, on application, to be statutory heirs (TMK Article 598(1)). For movables, the estate annex provides that a certificate issued by the competent authority of the deceased’s state is enough to prove heirship to the movable estate in the other state (paragraph 17). Paragraph 17 is limited to the movable estate; for immovable property in Türkiye, heirship is proved with a Turkish certificate under TMK Article 598(1).
The first weeks at a glance
| Step | Rule | Who acts |
|---|---|---|
| Notice of a German national’s death to the consul | Estate annex, para. 1(1) | Turkish local authorities |
| Sealing and inventory of movables | Estate annex, para. 2(1), (2); TMK 589 | Local official, consul on request or with participation; civil judge of peace |
| Settlement of a German national’s movable estate | Estate annex, paras. 4 to 7 | German consul, if he takes it over |
| Hand-over to proven heirs | Estate annex, para. 10 | Consul, after 3 months from the last notice or 4 months from death, debts paid and secured |
| Immovable property in Türkiye | Estate annex, paras. 12(1), 14(2) | Turkish authorities under Turkish law |
| Rejection where Turkish law applies | TMK 605, 606, 609 | Heir, before the civil court of peace, within 3 months |
| Certificate of inheritance | TMK 598(1) | Civil court of peace or notary |
How Lex Lata works on estates of this kind
Lex Lata advises on Turkish law and acts before Turkish civil courts of peace, notaries, banks and land registries. In the first weeks, the lawyer establishes the nationality question, asks for protective measures where needed, contacts the consulate where the annex applies, gathers information on accounts and debts, and, where Turkish law governs and the estate may be indebted, prepares the rejection or an extension request in time. Later, the lawyer obtains the certificate of inheritance and handles the transfer of property in Türkiye. Reports go to the family in English or Turkish. German succession law, the Erbschein and German tax belong to a Rechtsanwalt, Notar or Steuerberater in Germany. For the wider context of a Turkish matter run from Germany, see our overview for clients in Germany.
