It is unpleasant to think about what will happen to your possessions and properties when you pass away. However, when you reside in a foreign country, you may want to make sure that your heirs won’t have difficulties dividing your assets as an inheritance.
It is important to create a valid will under Turkish inheritance law in order to ensure that your possessions and properties are distributed according to your wishes. To be able to make a legally valid will, as per Turkish legal regulations, it is mandatory to have reached the age of fifteen and possess the capacity to differentiate.
In accordance with the Turkish Civil Code, a will can be made in three different ways: an official will, a handwritten will, and an oral will.
Holographic (Handwritten) Will: A holographic will must be written entirely and completely in inheritance handwriting. The will must be dated and signed by the inheritor. Holographic wills may be executed anywhere and allow a person to keep the contents of his or her will private. It requires no witnesses. However, it is possible that it may be rebutted with the assumption that the testator was mentally incapacitated at the time or later designated a different allocation.
Oral Will: An oral will is a type of will that can be executed only under exceptional circumstances. The main condition for an oral will is that there must be an emergency situation that makes the testator incapable of executing a different type of will. Examples include a state of war, natural disasters or a terminal disease. The second requirement for an oral will is the the presence of two witnesses. When the testator dies as a consequence of the aforementioned emergency situation, the witnesses must transform the testament into written form and then petition the court as quickly as possible to register the will on behalf of the testator.
Nevertheless, due to the doubtfulness of these two types of wills in comparison to the official will, it is judiciously appropriate for foreigners living in Turkey to prefer the official will, which is effectively valid when made in the presence of an authorized official.
Official Will: An official will is a testament composed by an official legal functionary, for example, a public notary or Civil Court Judge, pursuant to the testator’s instructions. The testator reads the written text and signs it in front of the officers, confirming acceptance of its contents. After the will is dated and signed by the official as well. Finally, in the presence of two witnesses, the testator declares that he / she has read the written statement and that it is his/her final will. It is highly suggested that you consult a qualified inheritance lawyer to avoid any potential issues with the validity of the will. In our firm, we assist our clients in the process of writing their wills and ensuring the guarantee of their final wishes.