Marital Property Regimes in Turkey

1. Property Rights and Marital Property Regimes in Turkey

🔹 Default Regime: Participation in Acquired Property

Under the Turkish Civil Code (Article 218–241), the default marital property regime is:

“Participation in Acquired Property” (Edinilmiş Mallara Katılma Rejimi)

This means:

• Assets acquired during marriage (e.g., salaries, purchased homes, investments) are shared equally in case of divorce or death.
• Assets acquired before marriage, as well as personal gifts or inheritances, remain individual property (not shared).

🔹 Other Marital Property Regimes (Optional by Contract)

Couples can choose one of the following regimes by signing a notarized marriage contract (mal rejimi sözleşmesi):

1. Separation of Property (Mal Ayrılığı) – each spouse keeps full control over their own assets.
2. Separate Property with Sharing (Paylaşmalı Mal Ayrılığı) – personal ownership with shared value increase.
3. Community of Property (Mal Ortaklığı) – all property is jointly owned, regardless of who acquired it.

🔹 Foreigners

• Foreigners married under Turkish law are subject to Turkish marital property regimes, unless they explicitly choose a different applicable law before marriage under Private International Law (Law No. 5718).

2. Inheritance Rights of Foreign Spouses Under Turkish Law

🔹 Applicable Law

• Turkish law applies to immovable property located in Turkey, even if the deceased or the heir is a foreigner (Article 20, Law No. 5718).
• For movable assets, the deceased’s national law may apply.

🔹 Legal Inheritance Rights

A surviving foreign spouse has inheritance rights under the Turkish Civil Code (Article 499 ff.):

• If there are children, the spouse inherits one-fourth of the estate.
• If there are no children but living parents or siblings, the spouse receives half.
• If there are no other heirs, the spouse inherits all.

🔹 Inheritance & Marital Property

• Before inheritance is divided, the marital property regime is settled.
• For example, under the “Participation in Acquired Property” system, half of the acquired assets go to the surviving spouse first; inheritance is then calculated on the remaining half.

🔹 Wills & Inheritance Planning

• Foreign spouses can make or benefit from a will under Turkish law, subject to reserved shares (saklı pay) of other heirs like children.
• Some countries require registration of foreign inheritance rights with local consulates or courts.