Inheritance Law Law
This section addresses certificates of inheritance, wills, reduction (tenkis) and testator-collusion actions, and the partition of estates under the Turkish Civil Code.
Types of Wills: Official, Holographic and Oral
Forms of wills under TMK arts.531-544
How is a will drawn up and what types are there? Formal requirements and validity conditions for official, holographic and oral wills.
A will is a unilateral disposition by which a person provides for the disposition of his or her assets to take effect after death. The Turkish Civil Code imposes strict formal requirements on wills and recognises three types.
Official (Notarial) Will
TMK arts.532-537 govern the official will. It is drawn up by a notary, a judge of the Civil Court of Peace or another official empowered by law, with the participation of two witnesses. The testator's wishes are reduced to writing by the official, read and signed by the testator, and dated and signed by the official.
Where the testator is unable to read or sign the will, a special procedure applies (TMK art.535): the official reads the will to the testator in the presence of the witnesses, and the testator confirms that it reflects his or her wishes; the witnesses then attest in writing that the declaration was made in their presence and that the testator had the requisite testamentary capacity.
Holographic Will
Under TMK art.538, the holographic will must be entirely handwritten by the testator from beginning to end, with the date (year, month, day) and the signature also in the testator's hand. Wills typed on a computer, written in another person's handwriting, or undated will be annulled for non-compliance with form.
A holographic will may be deposited for safekeeping with a notary, a judge of the Civil Court of Peace or a lawyer. After the testator's death, any person into whose hands it comes must deliver it without delay to the Civil Court of Peace (TMK art.595).
Oral Will
TMK arts.539-541 provide for the oral will as an extraordinary form of disposition. Where, due to extraordinary circumstances such as imminent risk of death, interrupted communications, illness or war, the testator is unable to make an official or holographic will, he or she may declare last wishes to two witnesses, charging them to record those wishes in writing, sign them and deliver them without delay to the judge of the Civil Court of Peace or of the Civil Court of First Instance.
The oral will is a measure of last resort; it lapses upon the expiry of one month from the moment when the testator regained the opportunity to make a will in one of the other prescribed forms (TMK art.541).
Practical Considerations
In inheritance disputes, the first step is to clarify the status of the heirs, the scope of the estate and any dispositions on death. Civil-registry records, certificates of inheritance, land-registry records, bank correspondence, the records of the opening of a will and any transfers made by the deceased during their lifetime should be reviewed together.
The time limits and types of action for matters such as reduction, testator collusion, renunciation of inheritance, annulment of a will and inheritance waiver differ from one another. Correctly identifying the date of knowledge, the opening of the estate, the opening of the will and the date of any renunciation declaration prevents the loss of rights.
Because intra-family transactions are often conducted without written documents, bank receipts, the values reflected in the deed, the testator's economic needs, witness accounts and patterns of actual use are particularly important. The earlier the evidence is prepared, the more soundly the legal framework of the dispute can be established.
Relevant Statutory Provisions
- TMK m.531Forms of will (official, holographic, oral)
Original (Turkish, official):
Madde 531- Vasiyet, resmî şekilde veya mirasbırakanın el yazısı ile ya da sözlü olarak yapılabilir.
English summary (non-binding):
Article 531- A will may be made in official form, by the handwriting of the testator, or orally.
Source: mevzuat.gov.tr · last reviewed: 2026-05-12
- TMK m.532Official will — execution
Original (Turkish, official):
Madde 532 - Resmî vasiyetname, iki tanığın katılmasıyla resmî memur tarafından düzenlenir. Resmî memur, sulh hâkimi, noter veya kanunla kendisine bu yetki verilmiş diğer bir görevli olabilir.
English summary (non-binding):
Article 532- An official will is drawn up by an official with the participation of two witnesses. The official may be a judge of the Civil Court of Peace, a notary or another official empowered to do so by law.
Source: mevzuat.gov.tr · last reviewed: 2026-05-12
- TMK m.535Special procedure for the official will
Original (Turkish, official):
Madde 535- Mirasbırakan vasiyetnameyi bizzat okuyamaz veya imzalayamazsa, memur vasiyetnameyi iki tanığın önünde ona okur ve bunun üzerine mirasbırakan vasiyetnamenin son arzularını içerdiğini beyan eder. Bu durumda tanıklar, hem mirasbırakanın beyanının kendi önlerinde yapıldığını ve onu tasarrufa ehil gördüklerini; hem vasiyetnamenin kendi önlerinde memur tarafından mirasbırakana okunduğunu ve onun vasiyetnamenin son arzularını içerdiğini beyan ettiğini vasiyetnameye yazarak veya yazdırarak altını imzalarlar.
English summary (non-binding):
Article 535- Where the testator cannot personally read or sign the will, the official reads the will to the testator in the presence of two witnesses, whereupon the testator declares that the will reflects his or her last wishes. In this case, the witnesses record on the will, and sign, statements that the testator's declaration was made before them, that they regard the testator as having testamentary capacity, that the will was read out by the official to the testator in their presence, and that the testator declared the will to contain his or her last wishes.
Source: mevzuat.gov.tr · last reviewed: 2026-05-12
- TMK m.538Holographic will
Original (Turkish, official):
Madde 538- El yazılı vasiyetnamenin yapıldığı yıl, ay ve gün gösterilerek başından sonuna kadar mirasbırakanın el yazısıyla yazılmış ve imzalanmış olması zorunludur. El yazılı vasiyetname, saklanmak üzere açık veya kapalı olarak notere, sulh hâkimine veya yetkili memura bırakılabilir.
English summary (non-binding):
Article 538- A holographic will must be entirely handwritten and signed by the testator from beginning to end, with the year, month and day on which it was made indicated. A holographic will may be deposited, open or sealed, for safekeeping with a notary, a judge of the Civil Court of Peace or a competent official.
Source: mevzuat.gov.tr · last reviewed: 2026-05-12
- TMK m.539Oral will — conditions
Original (Turkish, official):
Madde 539- Mirasbırakan; yakın ölüm tehlikesi, ulaşımın kesilmesi, hastalık, savaş gibi olağanüstü durumlar yüzünden resmî veya el yazılı vasiyetname yapamıyorsa, sözlü vasiyet yoluna başvurabilir. Bunun için mirasbırakan, son arzularını iki tanığa anlatır ve onlara bu beyanına uygun bir vasiyetname yazmaları veya yazdırmaları görevini yükler. Resmî vasiyetname düzenlenmesinde okur yazar olma koşulu dışında, tanıklara ilişkin yasaklar, sözlü vasiyetteki tanıklar için de geçerlidir.
English summary (non-binding):
Article 539- Where the testator is prevented by extraordinary circumstances — such as imminent risk of death, interrupted communications, illness or war — from making an official or holographic will, recourse may be had to an oral will. For this purpose, the testator declares his or her last wishes to two witnesses and charges them with writing down, or having written down, a will conforming to that declaration. Save for the literacy requirement, the disqualifications applicable to witnesses for the execution of an official will also apply to witnesses to an oral will.
Source: mevzuat.gov.tr · last reviewed: 2026-05-12
- TMK m.595Duty to deliver the will
Original (Turkish, official):
Madde 595- Mirasbırakanın ölümünden sonra ele geçen vasiyetnamesinin, geçerli olup olmadığına bakılmaksızın hemen sulh hâkimine teslim edilmesi zorunludur. Vasiyetnameyi düzenleyen veya muhafaza eden görevli ya da mirasbırakanın arzusu üzerine saklayan veya başka surette ele geçiren ya da ölenin eşyası arasında bulan kimse, ölümü öğrenir öğrenmez teslim görevini yerine getirmekle yükümlüdür; aksi takdirde bu yüzden doğacak zarardan sorumludur. Sulh hâkimi, teslim edilen vasiyetnameyi derhâl inceler, gerekli koruma önlemlerini alır; olanak varsa ilgilileri dinleyerek terekenin yasal mirasçılara geçici olarak teslimine veya resmen yönetilmesine karar verir.
English summary (non-binding):
Article 595- A will that comes to light after the testator's death must be delivered without delay to the judge of the Civil Court of Peace, regardless of whether it is valid or not. The official who drew it up or who held it for safekeeping, the person who held it at the testator's request or otherwise came into possession of it, or the person who found it among the deceased's effects, is bound to deliver it as soon as he or she learns of the death; otherwise he or she is liable for any resulting loss. The judge of the Civil Court of Peace examines the will delivered without delay, takes the necessary protective measures, and, where possible, after hearing the persons concerned, orders the provisional handover of the estate to the statutory heirs or its official administration.
Source: mevzuat.gov.tr · last reviewed: 2026-05-12
The statutory provisions are reproduced for information purposes only. The current and official text on mevzuat.gov.tr is authoritative.
Conclusion
The form of the will determines the scope of any later challenge based on formal defects. The official will, made with the participation of an official and witnesses, offers a more controlled route; with the holographic will, the date, the signature and the requirement that the entire text be in the testator's hand are particularly important.
This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. If you would like professional assistance on a specific matter, you may request a consultation.
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