Finding and Claiming Turkish Bank and Investment Accounts While Living in Germany

Türkiye’s e-Devlet portal includes a BDDK service allowing an heir to query banks in which a person they inherit from had a deposit or participation-fund account. Identifying the bank does not itself release the money. The balance at the date of death, the type of account, any joint ownership and the documents required for payment must still be dealt with directly with the relevant institution.

The estate may also contain securities and other financial assets. The Central Securities Depository, Merkezi Kayıt Kuruluşu (MKK), provides an e-Devlet service for investment-account enquiries on behalf of a deceased person. Separate heir services also exist for certain payment and electronic-money accounts, private pension arrangements and life insurance. Contacting only the banks already known to the family is therefore not necessarily a complete estate investigation.

A person approaching a Turkish bank must establish their status as heir. A Turkish mirasçılık belgesi, also called a veraset ilamı, identifies the heirs and their shares. Depending on the civil-registry information and the foreign element in the case, it may be issued by a Turkish notary or by the competent Sulh Hukuk Mahkemesi. Foreign succession documents require a separate assessment.

The 1929 German-Turkish succession agreement links movable succession within its scope to the law of the deceased’s nationality at death. Section 17 provides that a succession certificate issued under that law by the competent authority of the deceased’s nationality state can also prove the succession relationship for movable assets in the other state. An appropriate German Erbschein can therefore be relevant to Turkish bank assets where the deceased was solely German. This does not mean that every apostilled German document is sufficient for every bank. Dual nationality, the document’s scope, authentication, translation and the bank’s other legitimate requirements still need to be checked.

An inheritance certificate is a central document for information and payment requests, but one co-heir does not obtain the entire account merely by presenting it. Where there are several heirs, the estate remains subject to the inheritance community until division. The payment method can depend on the heirs’ shares, the account type, the position of the other heirs, any will, and whether an estate representative has been appointed.

Where there is a dispute, the distinction between investigating the estate and disposing of estate assets becomes particularly important. An individual heir may be able to take steps to preserve or identify estate assets without thereby gaining the right to appropriate the whole balance. Joint instructions, a division of the estate or judicial measures may be required depending on the facts.

Turkish inheritance and transfer tax may apply to money and other assets located in Türkiye. A return is required for inheritance even where the inherited value falls below the applicable exemption. 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 death, not from the later issue of the inheritance certificate.

Bank payments are also affected by section 17 of the Turkish Inheritance and Transfer Tax Law. As a rule, the institution looks for a tax-office certificate showing that the relevant tax position has been cleared. Where that certificate is not produced, the statute provides a mechanism under which 5% may be withheld as security for tax in an inheritance before the remaining amount is paid. This tax mechanism does not replace the inheritance evidence or other documents the bank is entitled to require.

Many steps can be handled without travelling to Türkiye if the power of attorney is drafted for the actual work required. Identifying accounts, obtaining balances at the date of death, handling inheritance-tax filings, collecting an inheritance share, closing an account, and transferring or selling securities are distinct authorities. A broadly worded general power of attorney should not be assumed to cover every one of them.

A power of attorney executed at a Turkish consulate in Germany does not require a separate German apostille for use in Türkiye. A German notarial instrument may require an apostille and a duly certified Turkish translation, depending on its form. Banks may also ask for identification, tax or identification numbers, account details, succession evidence and tax documents. These supporting documents are separate from the representative’s legal authority.

Very old accounts require an additional check. Under Turkish banking rules, deposits, participation funds, valuables held in custody and other receivables may become time-barred if they are not claimed within ten years from the account holder’s last request, transaction or written instruction. After the statutory notice process, the assets may be transferred to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund, TMSF. For older assets, a TMSF time-barred-account search may therefore be necessary in addition to ordinary bank enquiries.

A death not yet reflected in Turkish civil records, differences in names or surnames, an incorrectly authenticated foreign succession document, a power of attorney without collection authority, an unfiled tax return or an incomplete bank document set can all delay payment. It is also important to distinguish “an account exists” from the balance at the date of death and the amount currently payable. Interest, profit shares, market movements, debts and later account activity may affect the figures.

A practical sequence is therefore to establish the heirs and identity records, locate the bank and investment assets, obtain date-of-death values, complete the tax steps and then deal with payment or transfer at each institution. A properly drafted power of attorney can allow much of this chain to be managed from Germany without the heir travelling to Türkiye.