My mother died and my father remarried; what happens to the inheritance from my mother? The statute gives the short answer, and it is not the one many people fear: the person your father later married is not an heir of your mother.
The entire order of inheritance, the classes of heirs and the shares are set out on the Inheritance Law page. This article deals with what remarriage changes.
My mother died and my father remarried: what happens to the inheritance? The short answer
- Your mother’s estate opened at the moment of her death and her heirs were determined at that moment. The heirs acquire the estate as a whole by operation of law upon the death of the deceased.
- The person your father later married is not an heir of your mother. The statute ties the spouse’s share to the status of “surviving spouse”; that person was not your mother’s spouse at the moment of her death.
- The share your father received from your mother is, as a rule, his personal property in his new marriage. The new spouse cannot claim a share in the ownership of that property — but if she contributed to its preservation or improvement, she may claim an increase in value.
- When your father dies, his new spouse becomes his heir and the share coming from your mother is also distributed as part of his estate.
- You do not have to wait. Unless obliged to continue the co-ownership by contract or by law, each of the heirs may at any time request partition.
When and to whom did your mother’s estate pass?
The estate opens upon the death of the deceased (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 575) and the heirs acquire the estate as a whole by operation of law upon the death of the deceased (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 599). To be capable of inheriting, a person must be alive at the moment of death (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 580).
Who were your mother’s heirs at the moment of her death? The heirs of the first class are the descendants, and the children inherit in equal shares (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 495). The surviving spouse — that is, your father — inherits together with the descendants and therefore receives one quarter of the estate (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 499/1); the remaining three quarters are divided equally among the children. These shares are calculated on the estate remaining after the liquidation of the matrimonial property regime described below.
Until partition, your shares do not stand separately. Where there are several heirs, a community of heirs comprising all rights and liabilities in the estate arises among them upon the passing of the estate and lasts until partition; the heirs hold the estate as elbirliği mülkiyeti (joint ownership without shares) and dispose jointly of all rights belonging to the estate (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 640). The practical consequence is that, before partition, your father cannot dispose of estate property on his own.
The full table of shares by class of heirs is on the Inheritance Law page.
Does your father’s remarriage change the shares?
No. The shares were determined at the moment of your mother’s death. The statute ties the spouse’s share to the status of “surviving spouse” (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 499); since your father’s subsequent spouse was not your mother’s spouse at the moment of her death, she is not an heir to your mother’s estate. The new marriage neither reduces your share nor creates any right of inheritance in your mother’s assets for that person.
The only thing that changes is this: the one-quarter share your father received from your mother is now part of his assets and is distributed as part of his own estate when he dies.
The surviving spouse’s inheritance share: what does your father’s new spouse receive?
When your father dies, his surviving spouse inherits together with his descendants and receives one quarter of the estate (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 499/1). The remaining three quarters are divided equally among your father’s children. Being a “step” relation has no effect here; the spouse’s share arises from the marriage and the proportion is determined by the class of heirs.
Three points are frequently confused in practice.
Property acquired by inheritance is personal property. The statute treats as personal property the assets belonging to one of the spouses at the beginning of the regime or acquired by a spouse thereafter by inheritance or by any other gratuitous acquisition; assets replacing personal property are also personal property (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 220). Accordingly, the share your father received from your mother is not property acquired during his new marriage, and the new spouse cannot claim a share in its ownership.
But it would be wrong to say that no claim can ever arise. If one spouse has contributed, unless receiving no or inadequate consideration, to the acquisition, improvement or preservation of property belonging to the other spouse, that spouse has a claim proportionate to the contribution for the increase in value arising in that property on liquidation (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 227). The income of personal property is also included in acquired property (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 219). Furthermore, all property of a spouse is presumed to be acquired property unless proved otherwise (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 222); the party asserting that it is personal property must prove this.
A matrimonial property agreement cannot prejudice your reserved share. A different basis for participation in the surplus may be adopted by matrimonial property agreement; however, such agreements cannot prejudice the reserved shares of the spouses’ non-common children and their descendants (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 237). The provision covers only agreements on participation in the surplus and protects the non-common children of both spouses.
First the liquidation of the matrimonial property regime, then the inheritance
This is the most frequently overlooked aspect of the question. When a spouse dies, two separate calculations are made and the order matters.
The participation in acquired property regime applies between the spouses as a rule (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 202), and the regime ends upon the death of one of the spouses (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 225). This regime is liquidated first.
The date of marriage is decisive here. The Turkish Civil Code entered into force on 1 January 2002. Between spouses married before that date, the matrimonial property regime to which they were subject until that date continues; if the spouses did not choose another regime within one year, they are deemed to have chosen the statutory regime with effect from that date (Law No. 4722, Art. 10). Accordingly, in a marriage concluded before 2002, the participation claim in principle covers the period after 2002.
In the liquidation, acquired property is distinguished from personal property. Acquired property is the assets each spouse acquires for consideration during the regime: acquisitions in return for work, social security payments, compensation for loss of earning capacity, the income of personal property and assets replacing acquired property (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 219). Personal property is property serving only the personal use of one spouse, property belonging to a spouse at the beginning of the regime or acquired thereafter by inheritance or gratuitous acquisition, claims to compensation for non-pecuniary damage and assets replacing personal property (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 220).
The risk of assets being concealed is separately addressed in the statute: gratuitous transfers made without the consent of the other spouse within one year before the end of the matrimonial property regime, and transfers made during the regime with the intent of reducing the other spouse’s participation claim, are added in value to the acquired property (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 229).
The surplus is the amount remaining after deducting the debts relating to those assets from the total value of each spouse’s acquired property, including amounts obtained by addition and equalisation (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 231). Each spouse or their heirs is entitled to one half of the surplus belonging to the other spouse, and the claims are set off against each other (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 236).
This can operate in your favour as your mother’s heirs: if your father’s surplus is greater than your mother’s, your mother’s heirs are entitled to one half of it. The participation claim is not an inheritance share but a separate claim arising from the matrimonial property regime.
Where must this claim be brought?
In actions concerning the liquidation of the matrimonial property regime, where the regime has ended by death, the court of the deceased’s last domicile has jurisdiction (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 214/1) — not your father’s current address.
If the assets or estate of the debtor spouse do not cover the participation claim, the creditor spouse or their heirs may claim the gratuitous transfers that should have been taken into account in the acquired property from the third parties benefiting from them. This right of action lapses one year from the date on which the impairment of the rights became known and in any event five years after the end of the matrimonial property regime (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 241).
The surviving spouse’s right to the home and household goods: the family residence
The statute provides the surviving spouse with two separate routes in respect of the home in which they lived together, and the two belong to different stages. Both rights belong to the surviving spouse of the deceased spouse; on your mother’s death that person is your father.
In the liquidation of the matrimonial property regime. To enable the surviving spouse to maintain their previous standard of living, they may request that a right of usufruct or a right of residence be granted over the home belonging to the deceased spouse in which they lived together, set off against the participation claim and, if insufficient, by adding consideration; under the same conditions they may request ownership of the household goods. Where justified grounds exist, at the request of the surviving spouse or of the deceased spouse’s statutory heirs, ownership of the home may be granted instead of a right of usufruct or residence. Other arrangements adopted by matrimonial property agreement are reserved (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 240).
In the partition of the estate. Where the estate includes household goods or the home in which the spouses lived together, the surviving spouse may request that ownership be granted in set-off against their inheritance right. Where justified grounds exist, at the request of the surviving spouse or of one of the other statutory heirs, a right of usufruct or residence may also be ordered instead of ownership (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 652).
Both provisions contain the same limitation: the surviving spouse cannot exercise these rights in the parts of the property which the deceased used for a profession or trade and which are necessary for one of the deceased’s descendants to carry on the same profession or trade.
There is a further separate rule: one spouse cannot transfer the family residence or restrict rights over the family residence without the express consent of the other spouse (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 194). This rule also applies to the family residence in your father’s new marriage.
Can you request partition now?
As a rule, yes. Unless obliged by contract or by law to continue the co-ownership, each of the heirs may at any time request the partition of the estate (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 642). Each heir may request the Civil Court of Peace to order that specific assets in the estate be distributed in kind or, where this is not possible, by sale.
There are two exceptions: if immediate partition would significantly reduce the value of the property or of the estate, the judge of the Civil Court of Peace may order the partition to be postponed (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 642); where there is a foetus who will become an heir, the partition is postponed until birth (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 643).
Jurisdiction is mandatory. An action for the partition of the estate is heard by the court of the deceased’s domicile (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 576), and in such actions the court of the deceased’s last domicile has exclusive jurisdiction (Turkish Code of Civil Procedure, Art. 11/1-a).
Going to court is not the only route: the heirs may conclude a written partition agreement among themselves; such an agreement may also provide for the conversion of the elbirliği mülkiyeti (joint ownership without shares) into co-ownership in shares in proportion to the inheritance shares (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 676). An heir may also request the judge of the Civil Court of Peace to order the conversion of the elbirliği mülkiyeti (joint ownership without shares) into co-ownership in shares (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 644).
Dissolution of the co-ownership over immovable property by action is a separate route; there, jurisdiction lies with the court where the immovable is situated (Turkish Code of Civil Procedure, Art. 12/1) and application to a mediator before bringing the action is a condition of the action (Turkish Law on Mediation in Civil Disputes, Art. 18/B). Details are on the action for dissolution of co-ownership page. Actions in abatement, for cancellation of the title deed and for liquidation of the matrimonial property regime are not included in this list.
Before partition, the inheritance must be documented; the document is obtained from the Civil Court of Peace or, in the cases permitted by law, from a notary public: how to obtain a certificate of inheritance.
If an asset of the estate has passed into another’s hands
Where an asset of the estate has come into the hands of a person who is not an heir, there is a separate action: a statutory or appointed heir may bring an action for action for recovery based on inheritance against the person holding the estate or certain estate assets, asserting their superior right in the inheritance; the judge takes any necessary measures, such as entering an annotation in the land registry, at the claimant’s request (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 637). The defendant cannot assert that they acquired the estate asset by prescription (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 638).
This action is subject to time limits: one year from the date on which the claimant learned that they were an heir and that the defendant in good faith held the estate asset, and in any event ten years from the death or the opening of the will; twenty years against those not in good faith (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 639).
Where it is alleged that the land registry entry does not reflect the actual legal position, the route to follow is the action for cancellation of the title deed and re-registration.
Is your reserved share protected?
A deceased who is survived by descendants, parents or a spouse may dispose mortis causa only of the part of the estate remaining outside the reserved shares (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 505). The reserved share proportions are laid down in the statute: one half of the statutory inheritance share for the descendants, one quarter for each of the parents, and for the surviving spouse the whole of the statutory inheritance share where they inherit together with the descendants or the class of parents, and three quarters in other cases (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 506).
The concrete consequence is this: in an estate where the spouse and children inherit together, the spouse’s reserved share is the whole of their statutory share (one quarter) and the children’s is one half of their statutory shares (three eighths); a disposable portion of three eighths remains. Your father cannot leave his entire assets to his new spouse.
Heirs who do not receive the equivalent of their reserved share may bring an action in abatement (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 560). Not all inter vivos gifts are subject to abatement; the statute lists those that are: gifts made to a statutory heir who has lost their status as heir in set-off against their inheritance share, gifts made for the purpose of liquidating inheritance rights before death, gifts made subject to a right of revocation and gifts other than customary gifts given within one year before death, and gifts where the intent to defeat the reserved share rules is evident (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 565).
The right to bring an action in abatement lapses one year from the date on which the impairment of the reserved share became known and in any event ten years from the date of opening in the case of wills and from the date of opening of the inheritance in the case of other dispositions; the abatement claim may always be raised by way of defence (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 571). How the calculation is made step by step is set out on the how is the reserved share calculated page.
Frequently asked questions
Is the surviving spouse’s inheritance share always one quarter?
No; the proportion varies according to the class of heirs with whom they inherit. Together with the descendants, one quarter; together with the class of parents, one half; together with the grandparents and their children, three quarters; and where none of these exist, the entire estate passes to the spouse (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 499).
Does my father’s new spouse receive a share of my mother’s house?
She does not receive a share of your mother’s estate; the statute ties the share to the status of “surviving spouse” and that person was not your mother’s spouse when your mother died (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 499). When your father dies, however, she becomes an heir to his estate — including the share he received from your mother.
Can my father’s new spouse continue to live in the house left by my mother?
The rights over the home under Arts. 240 and 652 of the Turkish Civil Code belong to the surviving spouse of the deceased spouse; on your mother’s death that person is your father, not his new spouse. The new spouse’s living there is based on your father’s right. If the house forms part of the estate until partition, the heirs dispose of that asset jointly (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 640).
What happens if my father transfers his share to his new spouse?
The validity of an agreement by which an heir transfers their inheritance share to a third party depends on it being executed before a notary public; such an agreement does not give that person the right to take part in the partition and confers only the right to require that the share allocated to the heir at the end of the partition be transferred to them (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 677). Agreements concerning an inheritance not yet opened, made without the participation or consent of the deceased, are invalid (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 678).
Do my step-siblings have the same share as me in my father’s inheritance?
Your father’s descendants inherit in equal shares (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 495); your father’s children have equal shares in his inheritance regardless of which marriage they come from. By contrast, a child of the new spouse from another relationship is not your father’s descendant and does not inherit from him — the position changes if your father has adopted that child, because the adopted child and their descendants inherit from the adopter as if they were blood relatives (Turkish Civil Code, Art. 500).
Legislation relied on
Turkish Civil Code No. 4721 — Art. 194 (family residence), Art. 202 (statutory matrimonial property regime), Art. 214 (jurisdiction in liquidation), Arts. 219–220 (acquired and personal property), Art. 222 (proof), Art. 225 (end of the regime), Art. 227 (claim for increase in value), Art. 229 (values to be added), Art. 231 (surplus), Art. 236 (participation in the surplus), Art. 237 (reserved share of non-common children), Art. 240 (home and household goods — in liquidation), Art. 241 (action against third parties and time limits), Art. 495 (descendants), Art. 499 (share of the surviving spouse), Art. 500 (adoption), Arts. 505–506 (disposable portion and reserved share), Art. 560 (action in abatement), Art. 565 (inter vivos gifts subject to abatement), Art. 571 (time limits in abatement), Art. 575 (opening of the inheritance), Art. 576 (competent court), Art. 580 (capacity to inherit), Art. 599 (universal succession), Arts. 637–639 (action for recovery based on inheritance), Art. 640 (community of heirs), Arts. 642–644 (partition), Art. 652 (home and household goods — in partition), Arts. 676–678 (partition agreement and transfer of the inheritance share) — mevzuat.gov.tr
Law No. 4722 on the Entry into Force and Application of the Turkish Civil Code — Art. 10 (transition in matrimonial property regimes) — mevzuat.gov.tr
Turkish Code of Civil Procedure No. 6100 — Art. 11 (exclusive jurisdiction in inheritance actions), Art. 12 (jurisdiction in actions arising from rights in rem over immovable property) — mevzuat.gov.tr
Turkish Law on Mediation in Civil Disputes No. 6325 — Art. 18/B (mediation as a condition of the action) — mevzuat.gov.tr
Related pages
- Inheritance Law — parent page, classes of heirs and shares
- How is the reserved share calculated?
- How to obtain a certificate of inheritance
- What is an action for cancellation of the title deed and re-registration, and how is it brought?
- Action for dissolution of co-ownership (izale-i şuyu)
This article is intended as general legal information and does not constitute legal advice. Because the circumstances of each case, the date of marriage, the matrimonial property regime and the structure of the estate differ, it is advisable to obtain legal support from your attorney at law for your specific situation.