Official Liquidation of an Estate in Turkey: Civil Code Articles 632–636 for Foreign Heirs
1. What does official liquidation mean in Turkish inheritance law?
Official liquidation is a court-supervised estate administration mechanism. Instead of the heirs taking over the estate with its rights and liabilities and administering it themselves, the estate is liquidated under the authority of the Civil Court of Peace. Estate affairs are completed, receivables are collected, debts are paid, testamentary obligations are performed to the extent possible and assets are converted to money where liquidation requires it.
The central protection appears directly in Article 632: in official liquidation, heirs are not responsible for the debts of the estate. This makes the procedure fundamentally different from unconditional acceptance and also different from accepting according to an official inventory, where Article 628 can still impose personal liability for listed debts.
Official liquidation should therefore be considered where the estate has significant value but the debt structure is complex, disputed or potentially larger than the known assets. It can also be useful where heirs live in different countries and do not want to assume the burden of jointly administering a Turkish estate with active businesses, litigation, property and creditors.
2. Article 632: when can an heir request official liquidation?
Article 632 gives each heir the right to request official liquidation instead of rejecting the inheritance or accepting it according to the official inventory. The choice belongs to the heir while the relevant inheritance-election framework remains open.
The statute contains an important restriction: if one of several co-heirs has accepted the inheritance, another heir’s request for official liquidation is not considered. In a multi-heir international estate, timing and communication are therefore critical. One heir’s unconditional acceptance can close this route for the others.
Article 632 then states the decisive consequence: during official liquidation, the heirs are not liable for estate debts. Creditors look to the estate-liquidation process rather than pursuing the heirs personally for the deceased’s liabilities under the ordinary inheritance-liability rules.
The heir should not confuse this relief with a declaration that the deceased had no debts. The debts remain estate liabilities and must be handled in the liquidation. What changes is the liability route: the procedure isolates administration and payment within the statutory liquidation framework.
3. Article 633: creditors can also request official liquidation
Official liquidation is not exclusively an heir’s remedy. Article 633 gives creditors of the deceased a statutory route where they have convincing reasons to doubt that their claims will be collected.
If a creditor requests payment or security and neither is provided, the creditor may seek official liquidation within three months from the deceased’s death or from the opening of the will, according to the statutory event applicable to the file. This is a short, specific period and should be calculated immediately when a creditor learns of the death.
The creditor must have credible reasons for doubting collection. The article is not a general debt-collection shortcut. The statutory conditions—credible collection concern, a request for payment or security, failure to receive payment or security, and the three-month period—must be addressed in the application.
Article 633 also protects testamentary beneficiaries. Where the same underlying conditions exist, they may ask for the measures necessary to protect their rights. The court can therefore intervene before estate value is dissipated in a way that defeats a valid testamentary claim.
4. Article 634: who conducts the liquidation and how does it start?
Article 634 provides that official liquidation is carried out by the Civil Court of Peace or by one or more liquidators appointed by that court. The process begins with preparation of the estate inventory and, at the same time, a public notice calling on the deceased’s creditors and debtors to report their claims and debts within the stated period.
If an official inventory has already been prepared, the liquidation proceeds on the basis of that inventory. This creates a practical link between the two procedures and avoids unnecessary duplication.
The liquidator works under the supervision and control of the Civil Court of Peace. Heirs and estate creditors have a direct complaint mechanism: they may submit a written complaint to the Civil Court of Peace concerning acts performed or planned by the liquidator within seven days from learning of the relevant act.
The seven-day complaint period is operationally important for heirs living abroad. A foreign heir should maintain an active service and communication channel throughout the liquidation. Learning of a proposed sale or settlement and waiting several weeks to obtain advice can cause the complaint period to expire.
The official wording of Articles 632–636 appears in the Ministry of Justice publication of the Turkish Civil Code.
5. Article 635: what happens in ordinary official liquidation?
Article 635 defines the work of ordinary liquidation. It includes completing the deceased’s ongoing affairs, performing the deceased’s obligations, collecting estate receivables, carrying out testamentary obligations to the extent permitted by the estate, obtaining judicial determination of rights and liabilities when necessary, and converting estate assets into money when liquidation requires it.
The liquidator must inform the heirs about lawsuits, enforcement proceedings and administrative matters concerning the estate. This duty is particularly valuable in an international estate where the heirs may otherwise have no visibility into Turkish proceedings.
The Civil Code contains a specific rule for real estate. Turkish immovables in the estate are sold by public auction, or by private negotiation if all heirs agree. A liquidator therefore cannot unilaterally choose a private sale while ignoring an heir’s objection. Where unanimity does not exist, the statutory public-auction route applies.
Heirs are not completely excluded from the estate while liquidation continues. Article 635 allows them to request that estate assets or money not required for liquidation be delivered to them in whole or in part. The request must be assessed in light of the estate’s debts and the needs of the ongoing liquidation.
6. Article 636: what if the estate is insolvent?
Article 636 addresses the situation where the estate’s assets are insufficient to pay its debts. In that case, the Civil Court of Peace liquidates the estate according to bankruptcy rules.
This provision prevents an insolvent estate from being administered as though it could satisfy every creditor in full. Bankruptcy principles provide an orderly collective framework for realization and distribution where estate value cannot meet the liabilities.
A foreign heir faced with clear insolvency should not treat liquidation as a normal property-distribution exercise. The focus shifts to creditor claims, ranking, realization and the collective administration required by the insolvency regime.
7. Official liquidation versus official inventory
The two procedures are related but solve different problems. The official inventory under Articles 619–629 identifies assets and liabilities and then lets the heir choose among rejection, official liquidation, inventory-based acceptance and unconditional acceptance. Official liquidation under Articles 632–636 goes further: it places estate administration and liquidation under the court or appointed liquidators.
Under inventory-based acceptance, Article 628 states that the heir is personally liable for debts entered in the inventory. Under official liquidation, Article 632 states that heirs are not liable for estate debts. That difference should drive the legal strategy in a debt-heavy estate.
For the detailed inventory procedure, see Official Inventory of an Estate in Turkey: Civil Code Articles 619–629.
Outright renunciation is another distinct option. See Renouncing an Inheritance in Turkey from Abroad for the separate deadline and conduct rules.
8. Foreign heirs, Turkish property and Law No. 5718
Where the deceased or heirs are foreign nationals, Article 20 of Law No. 5718 must be considered. Succession is generally governed by the deceased’s national law, while Turkish law governs immovable property located in Turkey. The applicable-law analysis should be completed before assuming that a foreign probate administration will automatically control Turkish assets.
The official text of Law No. 5718 is published by the Ministry of Justice. Our detailed guide on Turkish inheritance law for foreigners under MÖHUK Article 20 explains the cross-border succession framework.
Foreign heirs should also ensure that death records, powers of attorney, corporate records and other foreign documents are apostilled or legalized where required and translated into Turkish in a form accepted by the court. Liquidation can involve banks, title-deed offices, companies and enforcement authorities; documentation must work across all those institutions.
9. When is official liquidation strategically useful?
Official liquidation deserves serious consideration when the estate owns substantial assets but has a complicated debt position, when heirs disagree about administration, when a business must be wound down, when creditor pressure is immediate, or when heirs living abroad want a court-supervised Turkish process rather than direct joint management.
It can also be relevant to creditors who see a genuine risk that estate claims will not be collected. For creditors, however, Article 633’s three-month period and the prior request for payment or security must be handled precisely.
Before filing, the heir should check whether any co-heir has already accepted the inheritance, because Article 632 makes that fact decisive for the availability of the heir-request route. The file should also identify estate assets, known debts, pending cases, creditor actions and real estate that may need sale.
- Confirm that no co-heir has already accepted the inheritance.
- Determine whether the heir-request route under Article 632 remains available.
- If acting for a creditor, calculate Article 633’s three-month period immediately.
- Document the creditor’s prior request for payment or security.
- Collect title, bank, company and litigation information for the inventory.
- Monitor the liquidator’s acts and the seven-day complaint period under Article 634.
- Identify Turkish immovables that may require sale.
- Check whether all heirs consent to any proposed negotiated real-estate sale.
- Assess insolvency early; Article 636 changes the liquidation framework.
- Prepare foreign documents for Turkish court use before procedural deadlines expire.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can one heir request official liquidation?
Yes. Article 632 allows each heir to request it instead of rejection or acceptance according to the official inventory, subject to the statutory conditions.
2. What if another heir already accepted the inheritance?
Article 632 states that the official-liquidation request is not considered if a co-heir has accepted the inheritance.
3. Are heirs liable for estate debts during official liquidation?
No. Article 632 expressly states that heirs are not responsible for estate debts in official liquidation.
4. Can a creditor request official liquidation?
Yes. Article 633 allows it when the creditor has convincing reasons to doubt collection, has requested payment or security, and neither has been provided.
5. What is the creditor’s deadline?
Article 633 provides a three-month period from the deceased’s death or opening of the will, according to the statutory event applicable to the case.
6. Who conducts the liquidation?
The Civil Court of Peace or one or more liquidators appointed by it conduct the process under Article 634.
7. Can heirs complain about a liquidator’s act?
Yes. Article 634 provides a seven-day written complaint period from learning of the performed or planned act.
8. How is estate real estate sold?
Article 635 provides for public auction, or negotiated sale if all heirs consent.
9. Can heirs receive property before liquidation ends?
They may request delivery of estate assets or money not required for the liquidation, subject to the needs of the process.
10. What happens if the estate is insolvent?
Article 636 requires liquidation according to bankruptcy rules where estate assets are insufficient to pay the debts.
Author and legal review
Attorney Halil Bakırcı — Mersin Bar Association, Registration No. 3472. Bakırcı & Keskin Law Office advises international clients on Turkish inheritance, estate debt, official inventory, official liquidation 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 632–636 and Law No. 5718.
Mersin office
Bakırcı & Keskin Law Office can assess eligibility, creditor exposure, co-heir acceptance and the Turkish court procedure for clients living abroad.
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