Land Registry Transfer of Inherited Property in Türkiye for Heirs Living in Germany: Inheritance Certificate, Tax and Power of Attorney

The principal document is the inheritance certificate, known in Turkish as mirasçılık belgesi and commonly as veraset ilamı. It identifies the heirs and their inheritance shares, but it does not by itself determine which particular property belongs to which heir. Depending on the circumstances, the certificate may be issued by a Turkish notary or by the Sulh Hukuk Mahkemesi, the competent civil court for this purpose. Residence in Germany does not by itself exclude the notarial route. Where the application involves foreign nationals, civil registry records are insufficient or judicial examination is required, an application to the Sulh Hukuk Mahkemesi is necessary.

A German Erbschein does not become directly usable for a Turkish land registry transaction merely because it carries an apostille. For real estate in Türkiye, it must be assessed whether a Turkish inheritance certificate should be obtained from the court or what judicial steps are required before the foreign document can be used. If there is a will, a distinction must be drawn between appointing a person as an heir and leaving a specific property to that person as a legacy; the documents required for registration may differ in the latter case. The Turkish Land Registry Regulation treats applications by heirs and legatees separately. Tapu Sicili Tüzüğü, Article 20.

If the land register still shows the property in the name of a grandparent and an intervening heir has also died, an inheritance certificate relating only to the most recently deceased person may be insufficient. The chain of succession must be established in the order of the deaths. Deaths, marriages or surname changes that do not appear in Turkish civil registry records may also delay the issue of the necessary documents. Whether foreign death and civil status documents require an apostille, translation or further certification depends on the type of document and any applicable international exemption; the same formalities do not apply to every foreign document.

For a matter handled from Germany, the power of attorney should be drafted by reference to the specific steps that will be taken. Authority to apply for an inheritance certificate, investigate land registry records, handle tax procedures and complete the land registry transfer can be addressed together. A power of attorney that authorises only the transfer does not also authorise the sale of the property. If partition or sale is contemplated, the necessary authority for those steps should be included separately. Describing the document as a “general” power of attorney does not cure missing authority.

A power of attorney executed at a Turkish consulate under Turkish notarial rules does not require an additional apostille for use in Türkiye. For a power of attorney executed before a German notary and intended for Turkish land registry use, the appropriate notarial form, photograph, apostille and properly certified Turkish translation may be required. A document involving only certification of the signature may be insufficient for the land registry transaction. An apostille authenticates the official signature, the capacity of the signatory and, where applicable, the seal; it does not supply missing authority or cure a missing form requirement. The Turkish translation must be notarised in Türkiye or certified through a procedure accepted by the Turkish consulate. TKGM, Guidance on Powers of Attorney Issued Abroad.

With these preparations, an heir can be represented without travelling to Türkiye. The representative may file applications, complete missing documentation and follow the land registry procedure within the authority granted. Starting an application electronically is not the same as proving authority to act or completing the transaction; any required signatures and document verification must still be satisfied.

Citizenship status should also be clarified from the outset. A Turkish-German dual national who has retained Turkish citizenship acts in Türkiye as a Turkish citizen. Persons who acquired Turkish citizenship by birth, later renounced it with official permission and are entitled to the rights attached to the Mavi Kart are also assessed in light of those protected rights. This status is treated differently from applications by other foreign nationals and, where necessary, is verified through the relevant Turkish civil registry record.

For other foreign heirs, nationality, country-specific acquisition conditions and statutory restrictions linked to the location and nature of the property must be examined separately. Living in Germany is not the same as holding German citizenship. Acquisition by inheritance also does not mean that every restriction automatically disappears. Establishing the link between identity documents, passport details and any former Turkish civil registry record can affect the duration of the procedure, particularly where the person’s citizenship has changed. TKGM, Identity Verification in Land Registry Transactions Involving Foreign Nationals.

Turkish inheritance tax and the land registry transfer are separate procedures. Registration of inherited real estate in the names of the heirs can be completed without waiting for the tax to be assessed. It is therefore incorrect to treat full payment of the tax liability as a general precondition for every inheritance transfer. Conversely, completion of the land registry transfer does not remove the obligation to file the inheritance tax return. TKGM, Circular on Inheritance Tax Clearance.

For an heir located in Germany, the filing period is four months if the death occurred in Germany, six months if it occurred in Türkiye and eight months if it occurred in another foreign country. The period runs from the date of death and does not begin when the inheritance certificate is issued. A return is required even where the inheritance falls below the exemption amount. For real estate, the property tax value, emlak vergisi değeri, applicable for the year of death is generally used for the declaration. The assessed tax is paid over three years in six equal instalments, in May and November.

If the property is to be sold, an additional condition arises: the tax attributable to the property or share being sold must be paid in full, or the tax clearance must be resolved through security permitted by law. A normal sale cannot proceed merely on the basis that some instalments have not yet fallen due if the tax office has not completed the required clearance. Turkish Revenue Administration, GİB, Guide to the Tax Obligations of Heirs.

Where there are several heirs, one heir may apply for registration in the joint form of inheritance ownership known as elbirliği mülkiyeti; registration is made in the names of all heirs. That application does not authorise the applicant to sell the other heirs’ interests in the property. Partition, by contrast, is the legal allocation of estate assets among the heirs. An agreed partition must satisfy the applicable form and registration requirements. Converting elbirliği mülkiyeti into co-ownership by defined shares, paylı mülkiyet, is not the same as physically dividing the property.

An agreed sale of the entire property requires the participation of all owners or their duly authorised representatives. If ownership by defined shares has been established, a sale of only one share must be considered separately; a sale to a third party may trigger the statutory pre-emption right of the other co-owners. Where there is disagreement, partition or proceedings to terminate the co-ownership may need to be considered. Completion of the inheritance transfer does not itself resolve that dispute. Turkish Civil Code, Articles 640, 642 and 732.

Before a sale, mortgages, attachments and restrictions recorded in the current land registry, the scope of the power of attorney for sale and the documents required for the particular transaction should be checked. Missing heir information, an incorrect identification number, a former surname or changed block and parcel numbers may prevent the right holder or the property from being matched correctly. For example, authority to carry out the transaction concerns the legal sufficiency of the power of attorney, whereas a civil registry document linking a former and current surname may be requested to resolve a discrepancy in the records. Such a supplementary document is not necessarily required from every heir. Comparing the records before filing the application can reveal deficiencies early, before they require new documents to be issued in Germany.