Inheritance files are among the most crowded cross-border files: the deceased may have died in one country, the heirs may live in others and the assets may lie in a third. This page describes which documents the translation item covers in such a file and what is looked at in each. The question of which court hears the case belongs to the cross-border matters section.
The death record opens the file
Every inheritance file starts from a record of death. Foreign death records write the date and place of death, the last address and the marital status in different forms. Since later documents rest on these details, they are carried over completely and in source order, and the name of the deceased stays as the record writes it.
The certificate of inheritance and its foreign counterpart
Article 598 of the Civil Code No. 4721 provides that, on application, those found to be statutory heirs receive a document showing their capacity as heirs, issued by the court of peace (sulh mahkemesi) or by a notary. Under the second paragraph an appointed heir or a legatee receives such a document from the court of peace, provided no objection to the disposition has been made within the period the provision sets. Documents doing this work abroad differ in name and form. The rendering keeps the document’s own title and does not equate it with a Turkish one; how a foreign document of this kind is used in Türkiye is a separate question.
Wills, openings and registrations
Wills are written in a personal voice and are sometimes handwritten. The rendering follows the testator’s sentences without correcting them: repetitions, unfinished sentences and crossings-out are shown as they stand. A record of opening or an entry in a registry that accompanies the will is a separate document and is rendered with its own date.
The estate list and the records behind it
Article 43(1) of Law No. 5718 (MÖHUK) provides that inheritance actions are heard by the court of the deceased’s last domicile in Türkiye and, if that domicile is not in Türkiye, by the court of the place where the assets forming part of the estate are located. Title deeds, bank letters and company share certificates are therefore part of the file. Each item is rendered so that it matches its number in the list of assets, and amounts stay in their source currency.
Declarations made abroad by heirs
Some heirs make declarations, renouncing the inheritance for example, or stating a position on partition. Made before a notary or a consulate abroad, the declaration has the form of that country. The rendering records the type of the declaration, its date and the authority which drew it up, in source order; what legal effect it has in Türkiye is not added. Writing the same heir’s name and birth date identically in every document is one of the points that needs most care, since a file holds together only if the heir is visibly the same person throughout.
Powers of attorney given by heirs
Heirs living abroad often run the file through a representative. In the power of attorney, the list of powers, partition, renunciation of the inheritance and sale of immovable property above all, is rendered item by item, and no power is folded into a general expression. Acte Tercüme translates death and inheritance records, wills and heirs’ powers of attorney between Turkish, English and French.