UK Heirs of Property in Turkey: Why Probate Is Not Enough, UK Wills and the Turkish Certificate of Inheritance

This guide explains which law governs a house in Türkiye, why a grant of probate, letters of administration or Scottish confirmation does not transfer the title deed, how the Turkish certificate of inheritance is obtained, what the 1961 Hague Convention does for a UK will and how the three-month renunciation period runs.

As a UK heir you inherit a parent’s property in Türkiye under Turkish law, and you register it in your name at the Turkish land registry with a certificate of inheritance issued or confirmed by a Turkish court; a grant of probate or a Scottish confirmation does not do that by itself. MÖHUK (Law No. 5718) Article 20(1) refers succession to the deceased’s national law but applies Turkish law to immovables located in Türkiye. Article 37 of the Land Registry Law (Law No. 2644) has inheritance transfers for foreign natural persons made on a certificate of inheritance issued by a Turkish court, or on one issued by their own competent authorities that a Turkish court has confirmed as consistent with Turkish inheritance procedure. Under the Turkish Civil Code, heirs acquire the estate as a whole, by force of law, on the death of the deceased (TMK Article 599). If the estate may carry debts, keep in mind that an inheritance can be renounced within three months (TMK Article 606).

Three siblings, one in Kent, one in Glasgow and one in Belfast, are told by a solicitor that the villa in Kalkan their widowed mother bought after she retired is now theirs. In Leeds, a widow sorting her late husband’s papers finds that the flat in Bursa, their spring home for twenty years, sits on the Turkish register in his name only. In Bristol, a retired teacher signs a will her solicitor has drawn up, leaving her flat in Bodrum to her niece.

In the UK, each of these estates would be handled with UK court documents: a grant of probate (where there is a will) or letters of administration (where there is none) in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland, and confirmation from a sheriff court in Scotland. None of them changes the owner’s name on a Turkish title deed (tapu). The Turkish land registry needs a certificate of inheritance that a Turkish court has issued or confirmed, and Turkish law brings its own rules on wills, protected shares, refusing an inheritance and property held by foreigners.

The sections below take the three families through those rules in the order a file runs: the governing law, the limits of UK estate papers, the certificate of inheritance, wills made in any part of the UK, the spouse’s share, Article 35 of the Land Registry Law, renunciation, and what the heirs can do when they cannot agree about the property.

How do I inherit my parent’s property in Turkey as a UK heir?

To inherit real estate in Türkiye as a UK heir, you must obtain a Turkish certificate of inheritance (mirasçılık belgesi) rather than relying on a UK grant of probate or letters of administration, because Turkish law strictly governs immovable property located in Türkiye under MÖHUK Article 20(1). While Turkish Civil Code (TMK) Article 598(1) generally permits legal heirs to obtain this certificate from either a civil court of peace (sulh hukuk mahkemesi) or a notary public, foreign heirs are statutorily barred from using notaries under Notaries Act Article 71/B and must apply directly to the civil court of peace. Once the UK vital records (death, birth, and marriage certificates) are authenticated with apostilles and certified Turkish translations, the Turkish certificate of inheritance is filed with the competent land registry office (tapu müdürlüğü) to complete the official title deed transfer (intikal) under Land Registry Law Article 37.

Step 1–5: Step-by-step roadmap for UK heirs inheriting Turkish real estate

1. Step 1 — Assemble UK civil status documents with apostilles: Gather certified copies of the UK death certificate, birth certificates establishing the lineage of the heirs, marriage certificates, and any UK will; each document must be apostilled by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Legalisation Office and translated into Turkish by a sworn translator.
2. Step 2 — Execute a power of attorney for Turkish legal proceedings: Grant a specialized Turkish-language power of attorney at a Turkish Consulate General in London, Edinburgh or Manchester (Notaries Act No. 1512, Article 191) or before a UK notary with an FCDO apostille, expressly authorizing inheritance court representation and property transactions (Code of Obligations No. 6098, Article 504(3)).
3. Step 3 — Obtain the Turkish certificate of inheritance from court: File an application before the civil court of peace (sulh hukuk mahkemesi) under TMK Article 598(1) and Land Registry Law Article 37; notaries cannot issue heirship certificates where foreigners are applicants pursuant to Notaries Act Article 71/B.
4. Step 4 — Complete the title deed transfer (intikal) at the tapu office: Present the Turkish certificate of inheritance and valid compulsory earthquake insurance (DASK) under Disaster Insurance Law No. 6305, Article 11(2) to the local land registry office (tapu müdürlüğü) to register the property in the names of the heirs under Land Registry Law Article 37. Under Article 19/2 of the Inheritance and Transfer Tax Law (VİVK No. 7338), the land registry registers inherited real estate into the heirs’ names without awaiting assessment or payment of inheritance tax; a tax clearance certificate (ilişik kesme belgesi) is not a prerequisite for intikal, but is required before any subsequent sale, transfer, or encumbrance to third parties (devir ve ferağ).
5. Step 5 — Submit inheritance tax declarations and monitor statutory deadlines: File the statutory inheritance tax declaration with the relevant tax office (consult a qualified tax adviser or accountant for specific tax calculations and filings). Do not let the file sit: if the inheritance transfer has not been registered within two years of the death, the land registry office may itself apply to court for a certificate of inheritance and register the heirs in joint ownership (elbirliği mülkiyeti) (Land Registry Law, Additional Article 1). Heirs who suspect the estate carries debts must also observe the three-month renunciation deadline under TMK Article 606.

One villa, two legal systems: the Turkish rule for land

Turkish private international law is codified in MÖHUK (Law No. 5718 on Private International and Procedural Law), and Article 20 splits an estate in two. Its first paragraph sends succession to the law of the deceased’s nationality, then carves out land: immovables situated in Türkiye are governed by Turkish law. Its second paragraph adds that the rules on why an estate opens, how it is acquired and how it is divided follow the law of the country where the estate is.

That is why the siblings’ mother’s British nationality changes nothing for the villa. The Turkish Civil Code (Türk Medeni Kanunu, TMK) decides who takes it and in what fractions. With no will, her descendants inherit and her children share equally (TMK Article 495). The Bristol teacher’s flat in Bodrum is in the same position: a British owner, a Turkish rule.

The Leeds family reaches Turkish law by the other door. The husband was a Turkish citizen, so the first sentence of Article 20(1) points to Turkish law as his national law, and the second sentence covers the Bursa flat in any case. Dual nationals are dealt with in Article 4(1) of MÖHUK. If one of the nationalities is Turkish, Turkish law is applied (sub-paragraph (b)); if none is, the court looks for the state with which the person had the closer connection (sub-paragraph (c)).

British nationality raises a question that a single-system nationality does not: which of the UK’s three legal systems is the “national law”? Article 2(5) of MÖHUK hands that question to UK law first, and, if UK law gives no decisive answer, to the territorial unit most closely connected with the dispute. It matters for assets other than land, such as money in a Turkish bank account of a British citizen. Turkish judges apply the designated foreign law without waiting for a party to plead it, may ask the family to help prove its content, and use Turkish law only where the relevant foreign rules cannot be found after every inquiry (Article 2(1) and (2)).

If the family ends up in litigation, MÖHUK Article 43 fixes the court: the court of the deceased’s last domicile in Türkiye or, for someone whose last domicile was elsewhere, the court where estate property lies. A dispute over the Kalkan villa of a mother who lived in Kent can therefore be heard by the court of the place where the villa lies.

Why the executor’s grant stops at the Turkish border

The UK uses different estate documents in each jurisdiction. England and Wales issue a grant of probate where the person left a will, letters of administration where there is no will, and letters of administration with will annexed where no executor can act. Northern Ireland issues a Grant of Probate with a will and a Grant of Letters of Administration without one. In Scotland, executors lodge an application with the sheriff court for confirmation, which the Scottish courts describe as the document giving executors authority to uplift money or other property of the deceased. Gov.uk explains probate as the legal right to deal with a person’s property, money and possessions after death, and nidirect speaks of authority from the High Court to deal with the estate.

All of these concern authority over the estate. A tapu office has a narrower question: whose name goes on the register, and for what share? Under Turkish law, heirs do not need an appointment of this kind to become owners of land. TMK Article 599 vests the estate in the heirs at the moment of death, as a single whole and by force of law, together with the deceased’s real rights, receivables and possession. Inheritance is one of the cases listed in Article 705(2) in which land changes owner before registration, but the same paragraph makes any disposal by the new owner depend on registration in the land register.

For foreigners, the Land Registry Law (Tapu Kanunu, Law No. 2644) says in Article 37 what the registry may act on: a veraset senedi (certificate of inheritance) issued by a court of the Republic of Türkiye, or one issued by the foreigner’s own competent authority that a Turkish court has confirmed as consistent with the Turkish rules on inheritance procedure. A UK court order offered in its place meets MÖHUK Article 58. It counts as conclusive evidence or res judicata only once a Turkish court has found that it satisfies the conditions for enforcement, with the reciprocity requirement of Article 54(1)(a) left out for recognition. Decisions in non-contentious matters are treated the same way, and so is any administrative step a Turkish office would take on the strength of a foreign judgment.

Keep the grant for the UK assets. For the house in Türkiye, the registry needs the Turkish certificate, or a foreign one that a Turkish court has confirmed. Recognition of UK court orders has its own page, enforcing a UK court judgment in Türkiye; estate papers from other countries are covered in foreign succession documents and the heir’s tapu transfer.

The Turkish heirship certificate and who issues it

TMK Article 598 creates two kinds of certificate (mirasçılık belgesi; the older name veraset ilamı is still heard). Heirs by law, once their status is established on application, may obtain theirs from a civil court of peace (sulh hukuk mahkemesi) or a notary (paragraph 1). Anyone who takes under a will, as appointed heir or as legatee, may obtain one from the civil court of peace alone, and only if the heirs or other legatees have not objected to the disposition within one month of its notification to them (paragraph 2). A certificate’s invalidity can be pleaded with no time limit, and the right to bring an action to annul the will is unaffected (paragraphs 3 and 4).

The notary route faces three statutory bars. Notaries Act (Noterlik Kanunu, Law No. 1512) Article 71/B names three situations in which notaries “may not” issue the certificate: issuing it calls for adjudication, the civil registry records are not sufficient for issuing it, or it is requested by foreigners. The regulation made under Articles 71/A to 71/C and published in the Official Gazette on 4 October 2011, which the Minister of Justice executes, illustrates cases calling for adjudication in Article 5(1): an expert’s examination, hearing witnesses, or a request with a foreign element. A notarial certificate can be contested before the civil court of peace by anyone whose interests it harms (Article 71/C).

Applied to the three families:

• the Kent, Glasgow and Belfast siblings are British citizens, so the civil court of peace is their only route;
• the Leeds widow, applying in her own name as a British citizen, goes there too, and her husband’s Turkish registry entry must record their UK marriage before it can show her as his heir;
• the niece takes under a will, and Article 598(2) reserves her certificate to the civil court of peace.

Turkish citizens living in the UK can be in a different position. Suppose an engineer in Manchester applies for the certificate for his late Turkish father’s flat, and every heir is fully recorded in the Turkish civil registry: the notary route may be open, as long as the file calls for no adjudication and carries no foreign element. If a child born in the UK, or a UK marriage or divorce, is missing from the registry, the records cannot show the heirs and the civil court of peace takes the case.

Papers from the UK

Expect the court to ask for proof of three things: the death, the family links, and the end of any earlier marriage. In a UK file that means the death certificate, the birth certificates connecting the children to the deceased, the surviving spouse’s marriage certificate, the order that ended an earlier marriage (a final order or decree absolute in England and Wales, a decree absolute in Northern Ireland, an extract decree of divorce in Scotland) and the will, if there is one.

HMK (Code of Civil Procedure, Law No. 6100) Article 224(1) treats a document issued by a foreign authority as an official document in Türkiye once it is certified by the competent authority of the issuing state or by a Turkish consulate, and paragraph 2 gives way to treaty rules. The treaty here is the Apostille Convention, in force for the UK from 24 January 1965 and for Türkiye from 29 September 1985. The Hague Conference lists the FCDO Legalisation Office as the competent authority for the UK, and gov.uk confirms that it legalises documents issued by a court and sealed with a wet ink court seal, and public registry documents such as birth, marriage and death certificates. Turkish courts work in Turkish: HMK Article 223 obliges the party relying on a foreign-language document to file a translation and lets the court call for an official one.

Turkish citizens who died in the UK

When the deceased held Turkish citizenship, the civil registry (nüfus kaydı) is where the court and the notary start. Under Article 31(1) of the Civil Registry Services Law (No. 5490), a Turkish mission abroad has ten days, from the date it hears of a death, to notify the registry authorities. The missions in the UK are the Turkish Embassy in London and the Consulates General in London, Edinburgh and Manchester. A UK divorce can be entered in the Turkish register by the Turkish mission in the country where it was granted if the conditions in Article 27/A of the same law are met; where they are not met, the divorce must first be recognised under MÖHUK (see our guide to recognition of a UK divorce in Türkiye). Births and marriages that took place in the UK should be on the register before the inheritance file opens.

Wills signed anywhere in the UK

The 1961 Hague Convention: a test of form

On the form of wills, the UK and Türkiye share a treaty. The Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 on the Conflicts of Laws Relating to the Form of Testamentary Dispositions took effect for the UK on 5 January 1964 and for Türkiye on 22 October 1983. MÖHUK Article 1(2) keeps treaty rules intact, and Article 8 of the Convention makes it apply to every testator who dies after its entry into force.

Article 1 offers five laws, any one of which can validate the form of a will. Applied to UK wills:

For a nationality that leads to a non-unified system, as British nationality does, the second paragraph of Article 1 lets the rules in force in that system pick the law, and, if there are none, the law with which the testator had the most real connection.

Article 5 classifies limits on permitted forms based on the testator’s age, nationality or other personal circumstances, and the qualifications witnesses must have, as questions of form. Under Article 6 no reciprocity is needed, and the Convention works even where it points to the law of a non-party. Article 7 leaves a court one way out: refusing a designated law that is manifestly contrary to ordre public.

When it acceded, Türkiye reserved three rights. Under Article 9, domicile is decided by the law of the forum rather than the law of the place in question. Under Article 10, oral wills of Turkish nationals who hold no other nationality need not be recognised, save in exceptional circumstances; a British and Turkish dual national falls outside that reservation by its wording. Under Article 12, testamentary clauses that do not relate to succession under Turkish law may be left outside the Convention. The UK made the Article 9 reservation as well. Turkish domestic law points the same way: MÖHUK Article 20(4) applies Article 7 (form of the place of the act, or of the law governing its substance) to dispositions mortis causa, and also upholds those made in the form of the deceased’s national law.

For land in Türkiye, content is a Turkish question

Passing the form test does not settle anything else. Three questions stay outside the Convention:

• whether the testator had capacity, which MÖHUK Article 20(5) refers to the testator’s national law when the will was made;
• what the will can do with land in Türkiye, which Article 20(1) leaves to Turkish law, protected shares included;
• whether and how the will is carried out in Türkiye, which starts with its opening before a Turkish civil judge of peace.

The protected shares (saklı pay) in TMK Article 506 are fractions of the statutory share: one half for descendants, one quarter for each parent, and for a surviving spouse the full statutory share alongside descendants or the parents’ line and three quarters in other cases. Siblings, nephews and nieces have none. An heir left short of the protected share may sue to reduce dispositions that exceed the freely disposable part (Article 560). The claim is lost one year after the heir learns of the infringement and, for a will, at the latest ten years after the will was opened (Article 571(1)).

How a Turkish judge opens a UK will

In Turkish procedure a will found after a death is handed to the civil judge of peace whether or not it appears valid, and the judge takes whatever protective measures are needed (TMK Article 595). Within a month of receiving it, the judge opens the will and reads it to those concerned; the known heirs and other interested persons are invited and may attend if they wish (Article 596). Each beneficiary then receives, at the estate’s expense, a certified copy of the passages concerning him or her, and beneficiaries whose whereabouts are unknown are notified by public announcement (Article 597). The certificate for an appointed heir or legatee comes after this, under Article 598(2).

A UK will is filed with an apostille and a Turkish translation. Gov.uk says that other documents can be legalised as long as a UK public official, such as a UK notary or solicitor, has certified them. Executors are a point to watch. Turkish law has a will executor of its own (vasiyeti yerine getirme görevlisi), appointed in the will and informed of the role by the civil judge of peace; if the appointee does not tell the judge within fifteen days of that notice that the role is declined, it counts as accepted (TMK Article 550). Whether an executor named in a UK will can act in Türkiye in that capacity is something the Turkish proceedings decide.

The flat in Bodrum: is the niece an heir or a legatee?

Turkish law separates two kinds of gift that a UK will may not distinguish in the same words. A disposition giving someone the whole estate or a fraction of it is an appointment of heir (TMK Article 516(2)). A testator can also benefit someone with a specific asset without making that person an heir (Article 517). A clause leaving the niece the Bodrum flat and nothing more fits Article 517.

The practical result: the niece does not step into ownership at the death. She holds a personal claim, directed at the will executor if there is one and otherwise at the legal or appointed heirs (Article 600(1)). Unless the will indicates otherwise, the claim becomes due when the person bound to perform it accepts the inheritance or loses the right to refuse it (Article 600(2)), and she can sue for the transfer if it is not made (Article 600(3)). The teacher never married and had no children, and both her parents died before her, so under Turkish law her heirs are her two brothers, taking through the parents’ line (Article 496). Neither has a protected share, so neither can sue for reduction. Each can still object within a month of being notified of the will; the civil court of peace then cannot issue the niece’s certificate under Article 598(2), and she has to pursue her claim by action (Article 600(3)).

A British widow’s share in her Turkish husband’s estate

A surviving spouse may expect to inherit everything. Turkish law makes the spouse’s fraction depend on which group of relatives inherits alongside. Under TMK Article 499 the spouse takes a quarter next to the deceased’s descendants, a half next to the parents’ line and three quarters next to grandparents and their children; the whole estate goes to the spouse only when none of these exist.

The Leeds couple had no children, and the husband’s parents died before him. Their places pass by representation to their own descendants (TMK Article 496(2)), here his two brothers in Türkiye. The widow therefore inherits one half of the estate, which includes the Bursa flat, and each brother one quarter. With children, she would have taken a quarter and the children the rest in equal parts (Articles 495 and 499).

A will could have changed this. A spouse inheriting with the parents’ line is protected for her whole statutory share, here one half (Article 506), and the brothers are not protected at all. A will leaving her everything would therefore be safe from a reduction action by them, though they could still object within a month of notification (Article 598(2)). If the husband had made that will in England, its form would be judged under the 1961 Hague Convention as described above. Claims a spouse may have under the matrimonial property regime are a separate matter from inheritance and need their own review.

British citizenship and Article 35 of the Land Registry Law

Acquisition of land by foreign individuals is governed by Article 35 of the Land Registry Law. Its paragraphs, and what each means for a British heir:

Nowhere does Article 35 require reciprocity. For the Kalkan siblings, the widow and the niece, the opening step of the file is to confirm against the land registry’s current position, for the specific transfer, that each British heir’s acquisition sits inside the first paragraph: the country determination, the district ceiling and any restriction on the area.

Dual citizens and Blue Card holders

A British heir who also holds Turkish citizenship is simply a Turkish citizen in Turkish law (Turkish Citizenship Law No. 5901, Article 3(1)(ç)). Article 44 of that law has the civil registry note multiple citizenship once the person submits the documents on the foreign citizenship and is found in the records to be the same person. Heirs in this position should bring their Turkish record up to date before the file opens.

British-Turks who gave up Turkish citizenship may hold a Blue Card (Mavi Kart). Under Article 28 of Law No. 5901, people who were Turkish by birth and gave up Turkish citizenship with permission keep, with their descendants to the third degree, the rights Turkish citizens enjoy, subject to rules on national security and public order. The exceptions are listed: they do not vote or stand for election, cannot import vehicles or household goods duty-free, owe no military service, and cannot hold core and permanent public-service posts in a permanent position under public law. Acquiring land is not on that list, and the card is issued on request. Article 36 of the Land Registry Law expressly mentions Article 28 persons in its rule on companies; Article 35 is silent about them, so a Blue Card heir should have the registry confirm its approach for the transfer at hand.

Refusing a Turkish inheritance from the UK

Under TMK Article 599(2), the debts of the deceased become the heirs’ personal liability. When a Turkish estate may be worth less than it owes, renunciation (mirasın reddi) is the first decision to make.

Article 606 has no separate clock for heirs abroad: three months in Glasgow are three months in Kalkan. From the UK, the declaration can be filed through a Turkish lawyer, and the power of attorney should say in terms that it covers renouncing the inheritance. Until the decision is taken, leave estate assets alone beyond ordinary administration.

Three heirs in three cities: keeping, dividing or selling

The siblings do not each own a separate third of the villa from the day of death. Several heirs form a community that lasts until division: they hold the estate jointly (elbirliği) and exercise its rights together, subject to any power to represent or manage arising from contract or law (TMK Article 640(1) and (2)). At the request of any one heir, the civil court of peace may appoint a representative of the community until division (Article 640(3)), which can help when the heirs live far apart.

If they disagree, each sibling has two tools:

• Division. Unless bound by contract or law to continue the community, any heir may call for division at any time. An heir may ask the civil court of peace to divide specific assets in kind or, where that is not possible, by sale; at an heir’s request the judge divides by giving each immovable as a whole to one heir where possible, with differences in value settled in money (Article 642(1) and (2)). If dividing at once would considerably lower the value of an asset or of the estate, the judge may postpone it at an heir’s request (Article 642(3)).
• Conversion to shared ownership. An heir may ask for the joint ownership of an estate asset to be turned into shared ownership (paylı mülkiyet). The civil judge of peace gives the other heirs a period to object; if no objection justifying the joint ownership is raised, or no heir files a division action within the period, the conversion is ordered (Article 644).

A sale agreed by all three is an ordinary land registry sale once the inheritance has been registered, and any sibling who will not attend needs a power of attorney that expressly authorises transferring the property.

From the UK to the tapu office, step by step

1. Assemble the UK papers: death certificate, birth and marriage certificates, any divorce order or decree, the grant of probate or confirmation if issued, and the will; then obtain apostilles from the FCDO Legalisation Office.
2. Choose how to sign the power of attorney: at the Turkish Embassy in London or a Turkish Consulate General in London, Edinburgh or Manchester, where consuls carry out notarial work (Notaries Act Article 191), or before a UK notary or solicitor with an apostille. The two routes are set against each other in power of attorney and apostille from the UK for Türkiye. Where the property might be sold, the power should name the transfer of immovables expressly (Code of Obligations, Law No. 6098, Article 504(3)).
3. Deliver any will to a Turkish civil judge of peace for opening and notification (TMK Articles 595 to 597).
4. Obtain the certificate of inheritance: British citizen heirs and beneficiaries under a will go to the civil court of peace; a notary is possible only where neither Article 71/B nor TMK Article 598(2) rules it out.
5. Keep the three-month renunciation deadline in view while the papers are gathered (TMK Articles 606 and 607).
6. File the Turkish inheritance tax return: persons acquiring property by inheritance must as a rule declare it in a return, and taxpayers living abroad submit it to a Turkish consulate (Inheritance and Transfer Tax Law, Law No. 7338, Articles 7 and 8); UK tax is a matter for a UK-qualified adviser.
7. Register the transfer (intikal). For independent units and buildings subject to compulsory earthquake insurance, the land registry may not register the transfer unless the insurance is documented as taken out and valid on the transaction date (Disaster Insurance Law, Law No. 6305, Article 11(2)).
8. Decide between keeping, dividing and selling, under the community of heirs rules above.

Working on a Turkish inheritance file with Lex Lata from the UK

Lex Lata advises families living in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on Turkish inheritance and land registry files. We work remotely and in English. A file starts with a review of the family tree and the UK papers; we then draft the power of attorney for the consulate or the UK notary, and in Türkiye we take the will to the civil judge of peace, apply for the certificate of inheritance, file any renunciation, register the transfer and, later, deal with a division or sale. Lex Lata advises on Turkish law only. English, Scottish and Northern Irish law, probate, confirmation and UK tax stay with your UK solicitor or adviser.

Istanbul is two hours ahead of London during British Summer Time and three hours ahead in winter; Türkiye stays on UTC+3 all year. Most steps can be prepared by email from scanned copies, and the originals travel by courier at the point a Turkish court or registry asks for them.

To discuss a file, use our contact page. Other Turkish legal matters for people in the UK are covered in our guide for clients in the United Kingdom, and property work on the real estate law practice page.