Procedure of leaving a will for the Foreigners who reside in Turkey?

Will or testament is the written or oral statement which people (testator) declare their intention after they passed away. Testament should be prepared before the legal authorities or it can also be prepared by handwriting. Oral testament is a very exceptional case and can be applied only in extraordinary situations.

As Turkish citizens are registered by the civil registration in Turkey, the notary is notified automatically by the system when they passed away, and notary directly delivers the testament to the court for the opening and declaration of the will.

However, provided the testament was prepared by the foreigner, notary shall not be notified as they have not been registered in Turkish civil system where notaries don’t have reliable information to deliver the testament to the court for the opening and declaration. In this situation, as we discussed in our previous article, the foreigner must apply to the court to obtain the inheritance certificate and only then, apply to the court for the opening and declaration of the will. Testament must be delivered to all heirs who have their names stated in the inheritance certificate by the court.

If the heirs who are mentioned by the court with the inheritance certificate do not live in Turkey or they don’t have official addresses in Turkey, notifications shall be delivered to their foreign addresses. Completion of the notification procedure depends on how many heirs are there who are stated on the inheritance certificate with their addresses .If they live in Turkey and have addresses in Turkey, it could be prompt. However, if the heirs live in abroad and cannot be reached, then the procedure could be longer.

After the completion of the notification, the testament will be opened and declared by the court. This means that the applicant will have a decision regarding the testament has is opened and declared legally, but it does not mean that it can be executed directly. Thereafter, another case must be opened to execute the decision and again all heirs must be notified by the court regarding the execution of the testament case.

After all these stages, testament will be executed under the light of deceased’s intentions

Procedure of writing a will / testament for Foreigners regarding assets stated Turkey

Foreigners can write testaments in their counties regarding their assets stated in Turkey. According to International Private Law Article 20/4-5. “A testamentary disposition executed in compliance with the national law of the deceased shall also be valid. (5) The legal competency to execute a testamentary disposition is governed by the national law of the executing person at the time of the execution.”

In the meanwhile, ıf the foreigners write testament under the light of their national law, ıt can be valid in Turkey. At this point, whether the subject of disposition is movable or immovable does not change the law to be applied. In other words, testament of the foreigners which are prepared in their countries according to their national law is also valid in Turkey.

At this point the heirs have two options, they can apply their national court for the opening and declaration of the will or they have a right to apply directly to the Turkish Courts for it. The testament which is submitted abroad can be opened by the relevant foreign courts, as well as opened and declared by the Turkish Courts.

Therefore, after applying to their national courts, following the court’s decision regarding the opening and declaration of the will then they must apply to the Turkish courts to recognize and execute the decision.

We would like to underline that; testament which are prepared by foreigners, must be recognized and executed by the Turkish Courts. Please note that, testament must be the final verdict which means it must have finalized statement.

If the testament is prepared by the countries which are the member of Hague Convention, then it must be apostilled. However it can be submitted directly to the Turkish Courts ıf the testament which is prepared by countries where the apostille rules which are mutually removed between Turkey and the country where the official testament is stated.