Official Inventory of an Estate in Turkey: Civil Code Articles 619–629 for Foreign Heirs
1. Why the official inventory matters in a Turkish estate
Turkish inheritance law transfers the estate to heirs by operation of law at death, subject to the statutory rules on renunciation and related protective mechanisms. That can be commercially dangerous where the deceased’s liabilities are unclear. A person may own Turkish real estate and bank assets but also have tax debts, loans, guarantees, pending litigation or private obligations that are not immediately visible to family members living abroad.
The official inventory procedure is designed for exactly that uncertainty. It creates a court-supervised record of estate assets and liabilities before the heir makes the final choice between rejection, official liquidation, acceptance according to the inventory or unconditional acceptance.
It is different from merely making a private spreadsheet. The Civil Court of Peace prepares the statutory inventory, calls creditors and debtors by public notice, records claims found in official records or the deceased’s documents and provides a formal inspection period. The later liability rules in Articles 628 and 629 attach to this judicial procedure, not to a family-created list.
For the general rule that heirs can become responsible for estate debts, see Estate Debts in Turkey: Liability of Foreign Heirs.
2. Article 619: who may request an official inventory and when?
Article 619 provides that every heir who has the right to renounce the inheritance may request that an official inventory of the estate be kept. The request is made to the Civil Court of Peace according to the procedure applicable to renunciation.
The statute imposes a one-month period for the inventory request. This is a separate and shorter decision point that must not be confused with the ordinary three-month renunciation period. A foreign heir who wants the protection of the official-inventory regime should therefore obtain advice immediately after learning of the death and heirship rather than waiting until the end of the ordinary renunciation period.
Article 619 also states that a request by one heir has effect for the others. In a multi-heir estate, one properly filed official-inventory request therefore changes the procedural position for the inheritance community as a whole.
A foreign heir who is considering outright rejection should also review Renouncing an Inheritance in Turkey from Abroad. The two procedures have different consequences and should not be selected interchangeably.
3. Articles 620–623: how the official inventory is prepared
Article 620 requires the Civil Court of Peace to prepare the official inventory. Estate assets and liabilities are entered with their estimated values. The objective is a legally structured balance sheet of what the deceased owned and owed.
Anyone who has information about the deceased’s financial condition must provide information requested by the Civil Court of Peace. A person who, without justified reason, refuses information or gives false or incomplete information is liable for the resulting loss suffered by heirs, testamentary beneficiaries or third persons. Heirs themselves must disclose debts of the deceased that they know about.
Article 621 requires the court to summon the deceased’s creditors and debtors by two public notices made one month apart. The call includes persons who are creditors or debtors because of guarantees. The notice warns creditors of the consequence of failing to report their claims. The reporting period must be at least one month from the second notice.
Article 622 prevents the inventory from depending only on creditor responses. Claims and debts apparent from official records or the deceased’s papers are entered directly. Persons whose claims or debts are entered are notified.
Under Article 623, the inventory closes when the notice period expires. Interested persons then receive an inspection period of at least one month. Inventory costs are paid from the estate. If the estate cannot cover them, the costs are charged to the heirs who requested the inventory.
The current statutory wording can be checked in the official Ministry of Justice publication of the Turkish Civil Code.
4. Articles 624–625: what happens while the inventory is pending?
The Code limits estate activity while the official inventory is being prepared. Article 624 states that only necessary administration may be carried out during the inventory period. If the Civil Court of Peace has left management of the deceased’s affairs to one heir, the other heirs may require that heir to provide security.
Article 625 creates a procedural standstill for the deceased’s debts. While the official inventory is continuing, enforcement proceedings cannot be pursued for those debts. Limitation periods do not run during that time. Except for urgent matters, existing lawsuits cannot continue and new lawsuits cannot be filed.
This statutory pause serves a clear purpose: the estate’s financial position is being established under court supervision. Individual creditors are not permitted to defeat the inventory process by racing ahead with ordinary enforcement while the procedure is still open.
The rule does not authorize heirs to dissipate assets. Necessary administration remains permitted, but the estate must be preserved while assets, debts and creditor claims are being identified.
5. Articles 626–627: the heir’s election after inspecting the inventory
After the inspection period ends, Article 626 requires the court to call each heir to make a declaration within one month. Where circumstances require, the Civil Court of Peace may grant additional time for matters such as revaluation of estate assets or resolution of disputes.
Article 627 gives each heir four statutory choices: renounce the inheritance, request official liquidation, accept according to the official inventory, or accept unconditionally.
The statute also supplies a default rule. An heir who makes no declaration within the allowed period is deemed to have accepted the inheritance according to the official inventory. Silence therefore has a defined legal consequence.
For a foreign heir, the election should be made only after reviewing the complete inventory and the legal nature of each material liability. A debt secured by Turkish property, a bank loan, a personal guarantee, a disputed tax assessment and a pending damages claim do not present identical risk profiles.
6. Article 628: liability for debts entered in the inventory
Article 628 states that an inheritance accepted according to the official inventory passes to the heir only with the debts entered in that inventory. The legal effect reaches back to the date the inheritance opened.
For debts entered in the inventory, the heir is liable both with estate assets and with the heir’s own property. Official-inventory acceptance is therefore not a universal cap that prevents personal liability for every listed debt. The protection lies principally in defining which estate debts pass under the inventory regime and limiting the effect of claims omitted from it, subject to Article 629.
This point is often misunderstood. “Accepting according to the inventory” does not mean “I can lose only what I inherited.” For listed debts, Article 628 expressly provides personal liability as well as liability with estate assets. The special treatment of unlisted debts must be analyzed separately.
7. Article 629: what happens to debts not entered in the inventory?
Article 629 gives the official-inventory procedure its most significant protective effect. An heir is not personally liable to a creditor who failed to have a claim entered within the required period, and the heir is not liable to that creditor with assets received from the estate either.
The Code then creates defined exceptions. If a creditor was unable, without fault, to have the claim entered, or if the claim was reported but was nevertheless omitted from the inventory, the heir remains liable to the extent of enrichment. In addition, a creditor whose claim is secured by estate property may enforce the security even if the underlying claim was not entered in the inventory.
Accordingly, a foreign heir should not treat a clean inventory as proof that every conceivable obligation has ceased to exist. Article 629 must be applied claim by claim, including the creditor’s conduct, whether the omission was faultless and whether security exists over estate property.
8. Foreign heirs, Turkish assets and Law No. 5718
Where the deceased or heirs are foreign nationals, the official-inventory procedure interacts with Turkish private international law. Article 20 of Law No. 5718 governs the law applicable to succession. Inheritance is generally governed by the deceased’s national law, while Turkish law governs immovable property located in Turkey.
The official Law No. 5718 text is available from the Ministry of Justice. For the broader conflicts analysis, see Turkish Inheritance Law for Foreigners: MÖHUK Article 20.
A foreign heir should gather Turkish and foreign financial records simultaneously. Turkish banks, title-deed records, company interests and domestic enforcement files may show liabilities or assets, while foreign records may reveal loans, judgments or obligations relevant to the overall estate analysis.
Documents issued abroad may need apostille or legalization and Turkish translation before they can be used effectively in the Turkish court file. The inventory should be treated as a financial investigation, not simply as a form to file.
9. When is the official inventory commercially useful?
The procedure is most valuable where the heir sees meaningful estate value but cannot confidently quantify liabilities. It can be particularly important when the deceased operated a business, signed guarantees, borrowed from several banks, held interests in companies, had pending litigation, or kept incomplete private records.
By contrast, an heir who already intends to reject the estate regardless of its balance sheet may not need the same information process. The correct choice depends on the inheritance, the timing and the heir’s objectives.
Foreign residence is another practical reason to act early. Obtaining documents, translations and Turkish representation takes time. Because Article 619 uses a one-month request period, a foreign heir cannot safely postpone the decision while waiting for every asset and debt to be confirmed informally.
- Record the date from which the Article 619 period is calculated.
- File the request with the competent Civil Court of Peace within one month.
- Identify all known Turkish and foreign assets and liabilities.
- Disclose known estate debts to the court.
- Monitor the two creditor/debtor announcements under Article 621.
- Review directly entered claims under Article 622.
- Inspect the completed inventory during the Article 623 inspection period.
- Choose among rejection, official liquidation, inventory-based acceptance and unconditional acceptance.
- Do not miss the Article 626–627 declaration period.
- Analyze each omitted claim under Article 629 rather than assuming it is automatically extinguished.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Who can request an official inventory in Turkey?
Under Article 619, any heir who has the right to renounce the inheritance may request it.
2. What is the deadline to request it?
Article 619 requires the request within one month under the procedure applicable to renunciation.
3. Does one heir’s request affect the others?
Yes. Article 619 states that one heir’s request is effective for the other heirs as well.
4. Who prepares the inventory?
The Civil Court of Peace prepares it under Article 620 and records estate assets and liabilities with estimated values.
5. How are creditors called?
Article 621 requires two public notices one month apart. The reporting period is at least one month from the second notice.
6. Can creditors enforce estate debts while the inventory is pending?
Article 625 prevents enforcement proceedings for the deceased’s debts while the official inventory is being kept.
7. What choices does an heir have after the inventory?
Under Article 627, the heir may reject, request official liquidation, accept according to the inventory or accept unconditionally.
8. What if the heir does not make a declaration?
Article 627 deems the inheritance accepted according to the official inventory.
9. Is the heir personally liable for listed debts?
Yes. Article 628 provides liability for listed debts with both estate assets and the heir’s own property.
10. What happens to a creditor who did not enter a claim?
Article 629 generally prevents recovery from the heir personally or from inherited assets, subject to the statutory exceptions for faultless omission, reported-but-unentered claims and secured claims.
Author and legal review
Attorney Halil Bakırcı — Mersin Bar Association, Registration No. 3472. Bakırcı & Keskin Law Office advises international clients on Turkish inheritance, estate debts, renunciation, official inventory and cross-border estate administration. Files throughout Turkey are managed from the Mersin office.
Last reviewed: 15 September 2026. This guide relies on the current wording of Turkish Civil Code Articles 619–629 and Law No. 5718.
Mersin office
Bakırcı & Keskin Law Office can assess the Article 619 deadline, file the official-inventory request and coordinate the Turkish court process for heirs living abroad.
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