Source: https://restproperty.com/article/inherit/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 06:21:33+00:00

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All systems of law that recognize private ownership of property also recognize that such ownership should pass at the death of the owner to others. The law of succession deals with the passage of a person’s property right at his death. This is expressed in the Turkish Constitution, that ‘every person has the right to own and inherit property’ (Cons., Art 35 I) the details of the law of succession is regulated in the New Civil Code (C.C. Arts 495-682), which basically followed the provisions of the former Civil Code of 1926.
It is a generally accepted rule that, in the absence of an express provision made by a deceased person, this estate will, by operation of law, go to his close relatives upon his death. This is so because of the importance placed on the family and the duty of the members of the family to support each other. Persons are free however, by will or otherwise, to dispose of their property to persons other than their relatives, within the limits permitted by law. A particular indirect limitations placed on the power of disposition is the existence of death duties or inheritance taxes which even in western countries, where the concept of private ownership is most widely recognized, are relatively high.
Under Turkish Law, which is based in the respect on Swiss law, persons are generally free to dispose of their property at their death. They may execute wills. By which they leave their property to such real or legal persons as they choose. This is so called ‘testate succession’ has some limits. Notwithstanding the provisions of a will, close relatives of the deceased are entitled to a certain portion of the estate, called the reserved portion.
In the deceased has failed to make a will or otherwise provide for the distribution of his estate at hs death, it will be distributed among his next of kin. For this purpose, the blood relatives of a deceased person are divided into groups which are called parental. The first parental consist of the descendants of the deceased, the second of his parents and their descendant, the third of his grandparents and their descendants. The fourth parental is the state. The rights of a surviving spouse and how they relate to parentals is discussed below.
First, as long as one member of a parental is living at the death of the decedent, the more removed parental will be eliminated. Thus, if the deceased leaves one child, parents or grandparents of the deceased, as well as their descendants, will not receive anything. Secondly, among the members of each parental those nearest in any degree will be represented by his or her descendants. For example, if D is survived by one child, a son, he will be his sole successor. But if this son had died before D, then the surviving children of D’s son, but not, for example, D’s parents will take the estate. Thirdly, surviving successors in the same degree of closeness to the deceased in the same parental, participate in the estate equally. Also, there is equality among male and female successors. Therefore, if D dies in state, leaving two sons and one daughter, each of them will receive one third of the estate. If one of the sons had predeceased D, leaving two children, his share will go to them, entitling each to one sixth of the whole estate.
Adopted children are treated the same as the legitimate natural born children of the deceased. Therefore they receive the same amounts as the other children of the deceased. The adoptive parent will, however, not take from the adopted child’s estate if the predeceases them (C.C., Art 500 I). An adopted child may be an intestate successor of his natural parents and may thus inherit from both his adoptive and real parents.
The surviving spouse shares the estate with the living blood relatives of the deceased, if any. Her or his portion varies according to the closeness of the other successor of the deceased with whom she or he has to share the estate. If there are close relatives, such as children, the surviving spouse receives less; of there are only distant relatives she receives more. For example, if the surviving spouse inherits together with the descendants of the deceased, she gets one fourth of the estate. If the surviving spouse takes with the second parental, she receives ownership of one-half of the estate. If she takes with grandparents of the deceased she gets ownership of three-fourths of the estate. If there is no grandparent, she becomes the sole legal successor ad takes the whole estate.
A person may dispose of his property as of his death within the limits of reserved portion, by executing during his lifetime a will or by entering into an agreement of inheritance.
(a) The authentic or official will. This is a will which is prepared by an official such as a notary or a Peace Court judge pursuant to the directions of the testator. The testator then reads the next and accepted its contents by signing it. Thereafter, the will is dated and signed by the official himself. Finally, the testators, in the presence of two witnesses expresses that he has read the text and that it is his last will. The witnesses also sign the statements on the will they found the testator capable of executing the will and that he accepted in their presence its contents.
If the testator is not able to read, the text is read to him by the official in the presence of witnesses. When it is proved by him, he will sign it. It he is unable to sign, then it is signed by the officials and by two witnesses.
Such an authentic will is preserved at the office of the notary or Peace Court judge, and a copy may be given to the testator at his request.
Such an authentic will provides security in that it is less likely that such a will be declared void after the death of the testators, as is frequently that case with other form of wills. Another advantage of an authentic will is that it may be made by a person who is unable to read or write. On the other hand, the authentic will entails notarial expenses and does not have the privacy of the holographic will.
(b) The holographic will (C.C., Art 538). The holographic will is completely written by the testator himself. It must also includes the place of preparation and the date, again in his own handwriting, and it must be signed by the testator himself. Even a letter, if it meets these requirements and clearly shows the intention of a person, may constitute a valid holographic will.
It is easy to prepare a holographic will. It may be prepared anywhere, and it enables a person to keep the contents of his will secret. It does not require any witnesses. But it may be rebutted with the assumption that the testator was mentally incapacitated at the time when he signed the will.
(c) The oral will (C.C., Art 539) only in exceptional circumstances, when it is impossible to execute an authentic or holographic will, will an oral will be considered valid. Thus, for example, a soldier in the battle field may make an oral will. Here the testator must express his will to at least two witnesses who must in turn write out and sign the will as soon as possible and submit it to a court, expressing that the testator was capable of making his will and that it was make under extraordinary conditions.
Since the execution of a will is a unilateral transaction made without the approval of other persons, the testator may revoke his will is one of its essential characteristics, and the testator cannot before his death deprive himself of the power to revoke it.
A will may be revoked in several ways. It is revoked by making a new will. If the new will is in consistent with the former one, it replaces the earlier will. The new will need not to be in the same form as the earlier. For example, an authentic will may be revoked by a holographic will. A new will which is only supplementary to an existing will and only partly alters the existing one without revoking it entirely, is called a codicil.
Other ways of revoking a will in whole or part are by burning, tearing or other-wise destroying it intentionally, or unintentionally, if it in the latter instance its contents cannot be otherwise proved or by crossing out or otherwise cancelling all or part of a will. The disposition by the testators in his lifetime of an article of property specifically bequeathed in a will constitutes a partial revocation of the will that is to say with respect to such bequest.
a. Universal legatees: receive all or a fraction of the estate, and like statutory or intestate successors, they may be obliged to pay the debts of the estate. There may be several universal legatees.
b. Particular legatees: particular legatees are the recipients of specific bequest of legacies, that is to say, a specific article of property, say a certain watch, all the testator’s furniture etc., or a sum of money.
A legacy may be left subject to a condition or charge (C.C., Art 515) the legatee receives a legacy, but is under the obligation of performing some act, such as the repair of a building or helping needy students. In the case of such a condition, the legatee may not acquire the property until the fulfillment of the condition. For example if A bequeaths his house to his cousin B on the condition that B completes his university education successfully and receives his degree, B may not demand the delivery of the house until he received the degree.
Executers are subject to supervision by judges of the Peace Court and may be dismissed by them.
A testator is not wholly free to dispose of his entire estate as he pleases. The law limits his freedom in favour of his close relatives, by means of the ‘reserved portion’. This portion is reserved for certain relatives of the deceased. Not all persons who would be entitled to inherit by intestate succession have reserved portions. Only the descendants, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters and the surviving spouse have rights to such a portion. The amount of the reserved portion depends on the closeness of the surviving heirs to the deceased. The new Civil Code has decreased the extent of the reserved portion and expanded the amount of free disposal by the deceased person.
(1) Descendant: their reserved portion is half of their statutory share. Thus, if the amount of the estate to be distributed is , for example, 80 billion TL, and if four children are the successors, the intestate share of each would be one fourth or 10 billion TL.
(2) Parents: their reserved portion is one fourth of their statutory share.
(3) Sisters and brothers: their reserved portion is one eight of their statutory share.
The value of the estate is determined at the time of death (Art. 507) If the disposition made by the testator’s will exceed the amount left after the reserved portions, such dispositions will be reduced. Dispositions made during the testator’s lifetime are also subject to reduction in certain circumstances.
The mechanics of inheritance is one of the main concerns of the law of succession. Under Turkish law, the property of the deceased passes to his heirs in the case of intestate succession, or to his legatees in the case of a will, at his death. But who are these persons? They may not be living in the same house, or even in the same town or country. If the deceased executed a will during lifetime, this must be discovered and the validity of the will be determined.
If there is more than one heir, the estate becomes the common property of all of them until the partition of the estate. The heirs (also the legatees, (C.C., Art 599 I, 600) from a ‘community of heirs’ (C.C., Art 640). All of them must act together, as in the case of co-ownership, and no one of them is entitled to dispose of a single article of a property in the estate, which are made individually, without the approval of the others, are void, expect in the case of acquisition by bona fide third persons. Suits by the estate must, as a rule, be brought in common, and suits against the estate must state the names of all successors as defendants. The heirs have no statutory power to represent each other. However they may give such power of representation to one if the heirs. The creditors of any one of the heirs must wait until the partition of the estate and may not levy on any property in the estate (C.C., Art 642).
Administrative acts with respect to the estate, however, require only the approval of the majority of the heirs and for the preservation of the estate each heir may take necessary protective measures himself. If an executor or administrator is appointed by the deceased or court, then the estate will be administered by such person for the benefit of the successor and creditors of the estate.
Although the physical partition of the estate may be affected by the heirs themselves, the estate determines who the heirs are.
The same court will initiate the necessary steps for the protection of the estate (C.C., Art 589). Thus, if any of the heirs in under guardianship, or absent, or if any of the heirs demands it, or in order to prevent someone absconding with property, the judge may order all the property of the estate put in a room, lock it under seal, or have an inventory made of the property including in the estate.
In cases where one or more of the heirs is abroad, and does not have a representative to act in his name, or if there are doubts as to the existence of other heirs (C.C., Art 592), the judge may order official administration of the estate. If the deceased has named an executer in his will, such person will be empowered by the judge to administrate the estate. If the deceased had a guardian, this person will be appointed to continue administering the estate of the deceased.
Under the rule of ‘universal succession’ all rights and liabilities of the deceased pass to the heirs at the time of death. The heirs are successors not only to the assets of the deceased person, but also to his debts. Moreover, the heirs are fully liable for the debts, although exceeding the value of the estate’s assets, to the extent of their personal wealth. (C.C., Art 699). An heir may, however, disclaim his share of the estate within three months of the date he learns of the death of the deceased. The heirs may also demand official liquidation of the estate when none of them s prepared to take the estate.
If there is a question whether the debts exceed the assets, the heir may ask the judge within one month after the date of death to have an official inventory made (C.C., Art 619). All creditors are asked to state their claims within a certain period of time which should not be less than one month (C.C., Art 621). The inventory of assets and debts is then open for inspection for at least one month (C.C., Art 623). If the heirs accept the estate on the basis of this inventory, they will not be liable for debts of the estate not shown in it.
If the heirs think that the debts of the estate are more than the assets, they may demand, within the three months during which they are entitled to disclaim the estate, an official liquidation of the estate. In this case, the estate of the deceased is kept separate from the properties of the heirs and they will not be liable for the debts require it, may also demand an official liquidation.
Although the estate passes automatically to the heirs of the deceased, and they become heirs common, they are, as noted above, entitled to disclaim the estate. In case of disclaimer, the estate passes to the next closest relatives of the deceased, who in turn may also disclaim the estate (C.C., Art 611). If all successors disclaim, then the state becomes the sole successor being liable for the depts. of the estate up to the amount which id received.
If the heirs cannot agree, or if a creditor requests it, a suit may be brought in court for the distribution of the estate. The law governing distribution by the court (C.C., Art 649 ff) includes certain provisions regulating the partition of those goods which have historic values for the family or agricultural lands. Under the new Civil Code the surviving spouse has a special right to demand the family property and the ownership of the house in which the spouses were living together (C.C., Art 652).

References: Art 35
 Art 500
 Art 538
 Art 539
 Art 515
 Art 599
 Art 640
 Art 642
 Art 589
 Art 592
 Art 699
 Art 619
 Art 621
 Art 623
 Art 611
 Art 649
 Art 652