Inheritance ‘right to will’

Lawyer Nimet Türe stated that individuals who do not have legal inheritance rights can become beneficiaries through a will or inheritance contract, saying, ‘Our law considers inheritance as legal and appointed inheritance.’ After the decease of the person leaving the inheritance, Lawyer Nimet Türe mentioned that the most important person entitled to inheritance rights is the surviving spouse, stating, ‘Due to traditions in Turkish society, there are many parties living together with religious marriage agreements. Although these parties may consider themselves as spouses, they do not have the title and status of spouses in our legal system. In Turkish Law, the status of a spouse is acquired along with the official marriage agreement. This official marriage agreement, where two individuals of different genders declare their intent to marry in front of an authorized officer verbally, leads to the acquisition of the spouse status. Upon acquiring the spouse status, all rights related to family law and inheritance law linked to a spouse start to be utilized. In terms of legal inheritance in inheritance law, the law explicitly states who these legal heirs are. What is this legal inheritance? When the person leaving the inheritance passes away, the remaining individuals automatically become entitled to the estate without any action, and the most important person among those entitled is the surviving spouse. Since the surviving spouse is the person who acquired the status of a spouse through an official marriage agreement, individuals who come together through a religious marriage agreement do not have a legal inheritance status derived from the title of surviving spouse. They cannot inherit from the estate as legal heirs.’ Türe mentioned that spouses with a religious marriage agreement can benefit from inheritance rights by making a will or inheritance contract, saying, ‘However, this does not mean that these individuals cannot be heirs at all, as our law considers inheritance as legal inheritance and appointed inheritance. These individuals can be appointed heirs. In other words, if the person leaving the inheritance prepares a will in favor of these individuals or makes an inheritance contract, these individuals will then acquire the inheritance share left to them without the need for any further action. In summary, individuals who come together through a religious marriage agreement cannot be legal heirs, but if the person leaving the inheritance prepares a will or inheritance contract in favor of the person they have a religious marriage agreement with, they can become entitled to the inheritance.’