Asset Protection & Estate Planning in Turkey

Asset protection and estate planning in Turkey represent two of the most critical — yet frequently overlooked — elements of any foreign investor's cross-border strategy. Whether you hold real estate in Istanbul, equity in a Turkish limited liability company, or substantial bank deposits within the Turkish financial system, the absence of a proactive legal architecture exposes your wealth to forced heirship rules, creditor claims, and tax inefficiencies that can erode decades of careful capital allocation.

For high-net-worth individuals, multinational executives, and family offices deploying capital into the Turkish market, estate planning is not a post-investment afterthought — it is a structural prerequisite. Turkey's inheritance rules sit in the Turkish Civil Code (TMK, Law No. 4721), and the tax on inherited property in the Inheritance and Transfer Tax Law (Law No. 7338). Under Article 20(1) of the Code on Private International and Procedural Law (MÖHUK, Law No. 5718), Turkish law governs succession to immovable property located in Turkey, whatever the owner's nationality, and Article 1 of Law No. 7338 taxes the transfer of property located in Turkey whoever owned it. Without deliberate planning, your Turkish real estate will pass according to Turkish statutory and reserved shares that may conflict with your home jurisdiction's succession preferences.

Key Takeaways

• Turkish inheritance law applies to all immovable assets in Turkey regardless of the owner's nationality (MÖHUK Article 20(1)) — a foreign will cannot take away the reserved shares in that property

• Inheritance tax runs from 1% to 10% on transfers on death and from 10% to 30% on gratuitous transfers such as gifts; each descendant's and the surviving spouse's share carries an exemption revalued every year (Law No. 7338, Articles 4 and 16)

• Cross-border estates are split — succession to movable property follows the deceased's national law, while immovable property in Turkey follows Turkish law (MÖHUK Article 20(1))

• Holding assets through a Turkish limited company separates the company's debts from the shareholder's (TTK Articles 573 and 602), but on death the shares themselves pass to the heirs (TTK Article 596)

• A will made abroad is valid in form if it follows the law of the place where it was made or the testator's national law (MÖHUK Articles 20(4) and 7), and a power of attorney must spell out the acts that need special authority (Code of Obligations Article 504)

  
  

Understanding Turkish Inheritance Law for Foreign Nationals

Forced Heirship and Statutory Shares

Turkish inheritance law operates under a forced heirship regime that reserves mandatory portions of the estate for close family. Articles 495 to 501 of the Turkish Civil Code set out the statutory heirs and their shares, and Articles 505 and 506 reserve part of those shares for the deceased's descendants, parents and surviving spouse; a will cannot take that part away. For a married decedent with children, the surviving spouse receives one-quarter of the estate as a statutory share (Article 499), while the children divide the remaining three-quarters equally (Article 495). The reserved portion is not a single fraction: Article 506 reserves half of each descendant's statutory share, one quarter of each parent's statutory share, and for the surviving spouse the whole statutory share when inheriting alongside descendants or the parents' line, three quarters in other cases.

This framework has significant implications for foreign investors who may have structured their global estate under common law principles that allow wide testamentary freedom. An English or American national who assumes their Turkish property will pass as their home-country will directs may find that a reserved heir asks a Turkish court to cut the will back to the disposable portion through an abatement action (tenkis davası, TMK Article 560). The will is not void; the right to sue lapses one year after the heir learns that the reserved share has been infringed and, in any event, ten years after the will is opened, although abatement can always be raised as a defence (Article 571).

Dual Jurisdiction Complexity

The Turkish Code on Private International and Procedural Law (MÖHUK) creates a bifurcated system for cross-border estates. Under Article 20(1), immovable property — real estate, land, buildings — located in Turkey is governed by Turkish law, regardless of the deceased's nationality or domicile, while succession to movable property, including bank accounts, securities and personal assets, follows the national law of the deceased. Article 20(2) adds that the rules on the opening of the succession, its acquisition and the division of the estate follow the law of the country where the estate is located. This dual-track system means that a single estate may be subject to two or more competing legal frameworks, creating potential conflicts between forced heirship obligations in Turkey and testamentary freedom in the investor's home jurisdiction.

Strategic Asset Protection Structures

Corporate Holding Vehicles

Some foreign investors hold real estate and business assets through a Turkish limited liability company (limited şirket) rather than in personal name. The company answers for its debts only with its own assets (TTK Article 602), and shareholders are not liable for company debts beyond their capital commitment and any additional payment obligations in the articles of association (TTK Article 573). On the owner's death it is the shares that pass: under TTK Article 596 they pass to the heirs without general assembly approval, although the company may refuse to approve the heir within three months by offering to take over the shares at their real value. Pre-emption, purchase and buy-back rights can be written into the articles of association (TTK Articles 593 and 595), which lets the owners settle in advance who may end up holding the shares. Shares are movable property, so for a foreign owner MÖHUK Article 20(1) points to the national law rather than to the Turkish rule for immovables; where Turkish law does govern the succession, the shares form part of the estate on which the disposable portion is calculated (TMK Article 507). As we detailed in our guide to company formation in Turkey for foreign investors, the company itself has to be formed and run under the Turkish Commercial Code.

Powers of Attorney and Advance Planning

Foreign investors and heirs who cannot be physically present in Turkey can execute a power of attorney (vekaletname) before a Turkish consulate, which performs notarial acts abroad (Notaries Law No. 1512, Article 191), or before a notary in their home country with an apostille under the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention. This instrument enables authorized representatives to manage inheritance proceedings, participate in estate settlement, and execute property transfers on behalf of non-resident heirs. Under Article 504 of the Turkish Code of Obligations, an agent cannot bring proceedings, settle, or transfer or encumber immovable property unless specifically authorised, so an inheritance power of attorney should list those acts expressly, together with the certificate of inheritance application, renunciation of the inheritance, partition and registration at the Land Registry (Tapu).

Testamentary Instruments and the Form of a Foreign Will

A will made abroad does not have to be remade in Turkish form. Under MÖHUK Article 20(4), read with Article 7, a disposition on death is valid in form if it follows the law of the place where it was made or the law governing the succession, and it is also valid if it follows the testator's national law; capacity to make it is judged by the testator's national law at the time it was made (Article 20(5)). A will made in Turkey can take the official form, drawn up by a civil court of peace judge or a notary with two witnesses (TMK Article 532), or be written entirely by hand, dated and signed (Article 538). Whatever its form, the will must still respect Turkey's reserved shares for immovable property — it cannot be used to cut statutory heirs out of their reserved shares in Turkish real estate, except on the disinheritance grounds listed in TMK Article 510.

Common questions about family and divorce matters in Turkey

Does Turkish inheritance law apply to foreign nationals who own property in Turkey?

Yes, for their immovable property. Under Article 20(1) of MÖHUK (Law No. 5718), Turkish law governs succession to immovable property located in Turkey regardless of the owner's nationality, so Turkish statutory and reserved shares apply to it. Separately, Article 1 of the Inheritance and Transfer Tax Law (Law No. 7338) taxes the transfer of property located in Turkey, whoever the owner was.

Can I use my home country's will to transfer Turkish assets?

Yes, as to form. Under MÖHUK Article 20(4), read with Article 7, a will is valid in form if it follows the law of the place where it was made or the law governing the succession, and also if it follows the testator's national law, so it does not have to be remade in Turkish form. Its content cannot reduce the reserved shares that Turkish law protects in Turkish immovable property: a reserved heir can bring an abatement action (TMK Article 560) to cut it back to the disposable portion.

What are the inheritance tax rates for foreign heirs in Turkey in 2026?

Article 16 of Law No. 7338 taxes transfers on death at 1% to 10% and gratuitous transfers such as gifts at 10% to 30%, on bands revalued each year; for 2026 the 1% band covers the first TRY 3,000,000 and the 10% band applies above TRY 55,000,000. Under Article 4(b), TRY 2,907,136 of each descendant's and the spouse's share is exempt in 2026, or TRY 5,817,845 for a spouse where there are no descendants.

How can I protect my Turkish assets from creditor claims?

A Turkish limited company separates the company's debts from the shareholders': the company answers for its debts only with its own assets (TTK Article 602), and shareholders are liable only for their capital commitment and any additional obligations in the articles (TTK Article 573). The shares themselves remain the owner's property. Transfers made to put assets beyond creditors' reach can be set aside: Article 280 of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law (İİK) allows this where a debtor whose assets do not cover his debts acted with intent to harm creditors and the other party knew or should have known, provided attachment or bankruptcy proceedings are brought within five years of the transaction.

Do I need to travel to Turkey to handle inheritance proceedings?

No. Foreign heirs can act through a power of attorney (vekaletname) executed before a Turkish consulate, which performs notarial acts abroad (Notaries Law Article 191), or before a notary in their home country with an apostille. Under Article 504 of the Code of Obligations an agent needs express authority to bring proceedings, settle or transfer immovable property, so the power should list those acts together with the certificate of inheritance application, renunciation, partition and the tax filings.

What happens if a foreign investor dies without a will covering Turkish assets?

Turkish intestacy rules then apply to the immovable property in Turkey (MÖHUK Article 20(1)). Descendants inherit first (TMK Article 495), then the parents and their descendants (Article 496), then the grandparents and their descendants (Article 497). The surviving spouse inherits alongside each group: one quarter with descendants, one half with the parents' line, three quarters with the grandparents and their children, and the whole estate if none of them survive (Article 499). Where there is no heir at all, the estate passes to the State (Article 501). This may produce outcomes that conflict with the investor's intentions or home-country expectations, which is why proactive estate planning matters.

This guide is general information on Turkish law, not legal advice on your own matter. Rules and practice change; check the position before you act.