Certificate of Inheritance in Turkey for Foreign Heirs: Civil Code Article 598

1. A certificate of inheritance identifies heirs and their legal shares

The Turkish heirship certificate is an official document used to show who is recognised as an heir and the share attributed to each heir under the applicable succession rules. It is not a private family declaration and it is not merely a translation of a foreign probate paper. The Turkish issuing authority must determine the legally relevant heirship position from the applicable law and evidence.

The certificate is commonly required for estate administration: title-registration steps, bank correspondence, tax procedures and other transactions in which a Turkish institution needs reliable proof of the persons entitled to act for the estate. It is therefore a foundational document, but it is not the final step in every inheritance file.

Foreign heirs should begin by establishing the deceased’s nationality, date of death, last relevant residence, Turkish assets and complete family tree. Those facts determine which documents are needed and whether foreign law must be established for all or part of the succession.

2. Civil Code Article 598 expressly regulates the heirship certificate

Article 598 of Civil Code No. 4721 states that persons whose status as legal heirs is established are given a document showing that status by the Civil Court of Peace or by a notary. The statutory provision therefore recognises two issuing routes for legal heirs, subject to the competence and evidentiary framework applicable to the file.

Article 598 also deals separately with an appointed heir or legatee under a testamentary disposition. Unless an heir or another legatee objects within one month beginning from notification of the testamentary disposition, the Civil Court of Peace issues a document showing the person’s appointed-heir or legatee status as provided by the article.

The same article states that invalidity of an heirship certificate can always be asserted and preserves the separate right to bring an action concerning annulment of a testamentary disposition. The certificate is therefore important evidence of heirship, but it is not an unchallengeable judgment that makes every later succession dispute impossible.

3. The Civil Court of Peace is the judicial issuing authority

The Civil Court of Peace (Sulh Hukuk Mahkemesi) is the court identified by Article 598 for issuing the certificate. The judicial route is particularly relevant where the heirship determination requires evaluation of foreign civil-status records, application or proof of foreign law, a testamentary instrument, disputed family relationships or another matter that cannot be resolved from straightforward domestic registry data.

Jurisdiction in international succession matters must also be considered. Private International Law No. 5718 Article 43 provides the special Turkish jurisdiction rule for inheritance lawsuits: they are heard at the court of the deceased’s last domicile in Türkiye; if the last domicile was not in Türkiye, at the court where estate property is located. The nature of a specific certificate application and the applicable procedural rule should be matched to the file before filing.

A petition should identify the deceased accurately, state the legal basis, describe the applicant’s relationship, list known heirs and attach available official records. Foreign names should be presented consistently with passports and civil-status documents so that transliteration differences do not create unnecessary identity questions.

4. Article 598 also allows a notary certificate for legal heirs within the notarial framework

Article 598 includes notaries as issuing authorities for a legal-heir certificate. The notary route is efficient when heirship can lawfully be established from the records and the matter does not require a judicial determination that falls outside the notary’s authority.

A foreign element can change the practical route because the authority may need to establish foreign family records or the content of foreign succession law. The correct response is not to assume that every foreign heir must use a court or that every foreign heir can use a notary. The decisive question is whether the competent authority can legally determine the heirship from the applicable law and admissible evidence in that file.

Where the notary cannot issue the certificate, the Civil Court of Peace route remains available under Article 598. Overseas heirs should therefore prepare the evidence first rather than choosing an authority solely because one route appears faster.

5. MÖHUK Article 20 determines the succession law before the certificate states shares

Private International Law No. 5718 Article 20(1) states that succession is governed by the deceased’s national law, while Turkish law applies to immovable property located in Türkiye. Article 20(2) separately provides that rules concerning the causes of opening the succession, acquisition and division are governed by the law of the country where the estate property is situated.

This means a cross-border certificate file cannot safely calculate every share by looking only at Turkish kinship rules without first classifying the assets and applying Article 20. Turkish real estate is expressly subject to Turkish succession law. Other assets can require application of the deceased’s national law under the conflict-of-laws rule.

The general cross-border framework is explained in Turkish Inheritance Law for Foreigners: MÖHUK Article 20. For the specific Turkish statutory shares of a spouse and descendants, see Who Inherits Property in Turkey?.

6. Foreign heirs must prove the family tree with official civil-status evidence

The issuing authority needs legally reliable evidence of births, marriages, deaths, divorces and other events that affect the family tree. A passport proves identity and nationality; it does not by itself prove that the holder is the deceased’s child, spouse, parent or grandchild.

Typical records include death certificates, birth certificates, marriage records, divorce decisions or civil-registry extracts, depending on the family structure. Where a parent or child predeceased the deceased, the evidence must show the relevant branch so that representation can be calculated correctly.

The exact documentary set depends on the issuing country and the facts. The rule is concrete: every legal link that changes heirship must be supported by an official record acceptable for use in the Turkish proceeding. A family tree prepared in a spreadsheet is useful as a working document but is not a substitute for civil-status proof.

7. Authentication and Turkish translation are separate from the heirship decision

A foreign public document must be made usable in Türkiye through the authentication regime that applies between Türkiye and the issuing country. For states bound by the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, an apostille generally replaces diplomatic legalisation for documents within the Convention’s scope. Where another treaty or exemption applies, the corresponding rule controls.

Authentication proves the official origin of a document; it does not prove that the document establishes a particular inheritance share. Translation is also separate. A foreign-language record used before a Turkish authority must be translated in the legally accepted manner required by the proceeding.

The existing Apostille and Certified Translation guide explains document preparation. Overseas heirs should avoid adding handwritten corrections to foreign records. If names differ because of transliteration or marriage, provide official connecting evidence.

8. A will or other testamentary disposition creates an additional Article 598 route

Where the deceased left a will or appointed an heir, the certificate question is not identical to ordinary legal heirship. Article 598 expressly addresses a person in whose favour a testamentary disposition was made. The testamentary instrument must first enter the Turkish legal process, including opening and notification where required.

Article 598 uses a one-month objection period beginning from notification of the testamentary disposition for the court to issue the relevant certificate in the absence of the stated objection. That procedural certificate does not extinguish the right to bring an action for annulment of the testamentary disposition; Article 598 expressly preserves that right.

Foreign wills also require a form-and-applicable-law analysis. Türkiye is a party to the 1961 Hague Convention on the Conflicts of Laws Relating to the Form of Testamentary Dispositions. A later article in this English series addresses foreign wills separately so that the heirship-certificate article does not duplicate the will-validity issue.

9. Article 598 allows invalidity of an heirship certificate to be asserted at any time

The statute expressly states that invalidity of the heirship certificate can always be asserted. This matters when a certificate omitted an heir, relied on an incomplete family tree, applied the wrong succession law or stated an incorrect share.

A person discovering an error should obtain the existing certificate, the underlying family records and the evidence proving the omitted or incorrectly stated relationship. The legal remedy should identify whether the problem concerns the certificate itself, a testamentary disposition, paternity, marital status or another preliminary issue.

Do not treat an incorrect certificate as harmless merely because no sale has yet occurred. Banks, land registries and other institutions can act on the current certificate. Correcting the heirship position before an irreversible transaction is usually procedurally cleaner than attempting to unwind later transfers.

10. The certificate is used in Turkish Land Registry inheritance transactions

For real estate, the heirship certificate supports registration of the succession at the Land Registry together with the tax and identity documents required for the transaction. The certificate identifies the persons and shares; it does not itself complete the title-registration procedure.

Foreign heirs must also comply with the rules governing foreign ownership and the Land Registry’s documentation requirements. A foreign heir should therefore distinguish the succession entitlement from the administrative steps for recording that entitlement on a Turkish title.

If several heirs become registered, later sale or partition requires the appropriate consent or judicial route. A certificate showing a one-quarter share does not authorise one heir to sell the entire property.

11. Banks use the certificate, but bank release requires additional estate and tax documents

Turkish banks commonly request an heirship certificate before recognising an heir’s authority over the deceased’s account or investment assets. The bank can also require tax-clearance or inheritance-tax documents, identity evidence and its own estate forms before releasing funds.

The certificate therefore answers “who are the heirs and what are their shares?” It does not by itself answer “has every tax and compliance condition for payment been completed?” Those are separate stages.

Where a foreign probate document also exists, provide it if relevant, but do not assume the Turkish bank must treat it as a direct replacement for the Turkish heirship certificate. Recognition and evidentiary effect depend on the legal route and the document involved.

12. An heir abroad can organise the application without repeated travel

A foreign heir can appoint a Turkish lawyer with a properly prepared power of attorney for many inheritance steps. The authority should cover the specific court, registry, banking and tax acts to be undertaken. Some irreversible transactions require express powers, so the wording should be prepared before the document is signed abroad.

See Power of Attorney for a Lawyer in Turkey from Abroad. The safest sequence is to identify the required acts, prepare one consistent authority, authenticate it correctly, obtain the Turkish translation and then file the heirship application with the complete family evidence.

Bakırci & Keskin Law Office has one physical office in Mersin and coordinates Turkish inheritance matters throughout Türkiye from Mersin, subject to the competent authority and agreed mandate.

Conclusion

A certificate of inheritance in Turkey for foreign heirs rests on Civil Code Article 598. The certificate identifies established heirs and shares; it can be issued by the Civil Court of Peace or, within the statutory notarial framework, by a notary for legal heirs. Cross-border files must first apply MÖHUK Article 20 and prove the family tree through admissible foreign records. Apostille or other authentication, Turkish translation, tax steps and Land Registry or bank procedures remain separate from the certificate itself. Article 598 also preserves challenges to an invalid certificate and the separate action concerning a testamentary disposition.