Practical guides on procedures under Turkish law for individuals and businesses living in Germany. The content is for general information only; a legal assessment of any specific matter requires review of the facts and documents.
An inheritance in Türkiye may include property, bank accounts or business interests, even when the family lives in Germany. Much of the administration can be handled through a representative in Türkiye. First establish the heirs and liabilities, then identify each institution’s requirements for releasing assets or updating records.
A person living in Germany does not always need to travel to Türkiye to sell property there, handle inheritance matters, deal with a bank account or bring court proceedings. Many procedures can be handled through an appropriate power of attorney. Whether the document can be used in Türkiye depends not only on where it was executed, but also on the powers it contains and the formal requirements of the intended transaction. A consular power of attorney, a German notarial instrument, an apostille and a translation each serve a different function in that process.
As a general rule, heirs acquire the estate upon death. Tapu intikali, the land registry transfer of inherited title, records that acquisition in the Turkish land register; it does not create ownership afresh in the manner of a sale. Registration is nevertheless required before an heir can carry out dispositions such as a sale of the property. The transfer therefore does not replace a later partition of the estate or a sale. Turkish Civil Code, Articles 599 and 705.
For administrative registration under Article 27/A of Turkish Civil Registration Services Law No. 5490, the decision must have been issued by a competent authority in Germany, must be final under German law and must not be manifestly contrary to Turkish public policy. The application may be submitted to the competent Turkish foreign mission in Germany or to a provincial directorate of population and citizenship affairs in Türkiye authorised to process these applications. Processing the application through the consulate does not mean that the German divorce case is reheard on its merits.
In a Turkish estate, the family may know that the deceased held a bank account, time deposit, participation account or investment portfolio in Türkiye. In other cases the heirs do not know which institution holds the assets. For an heir living in Germany, the first step is therefore not withdrawing the money but identifying the estate in an orderly way. The location of the assets, the form of inheritance evidence, Turkish inheritance tax and the rights of co-heirs all affect the process.