Structuring Estate Plans for Assets in Turkey
Proactive estate planning safeguards foreign-owned assets in Turkey and eliminates future succession disputes among legal heirs.
1. Recognized Types of Turkish Wills
- Official Notarized Will (Resmi Vasiyetname): Executed before a Turkish notary with two witnesses; highest evidentiary weight.
- Holographic Will (El Yazılı Vasiyetname): Fully handwritten, dated, and signed by the testator.
2. Statutory Reserved Portions (Saklı Pay)
Turkish law protects forced heirs (children, surviving spouse) with non-disposable statutory shares that testators cannot disinherit.
