Who inherits without a will in Turkey?
In Turkey the spouse takes a quarter alongside the children, a half with the parents' line and three quarters with the grandparents' line.
Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
A spouse and children survive
The spouse takes one quarter and the children share the rest equally.
A spouse survives, but no children
With the parents and their descendants the spouse takes a half. With the grandparents and their descendants the spouse takes three quarters. With no relatives in those lines the spouse takes everything.
No spouse: who comes next
Children first; then the parents and their descendants (brothers and sisters); then the grandparents and their descendants. If there is no one, the estate goes to the state.
A partner who is not married
An unmarried partner has no right to inherit without a will.
What a will cannot take away
Descendants, the parents and the spouse have a protected share: half of the legal share for children, a quarter for the parents, and the spouse's whole legal share in some cases.
If the person or the property is abroad
Turkey has its own rules on which law applies. In general the estate of a Turkish national is governed by Turkish law.
Understand the legal system first
Turkey belongs to the Civil law family. Succession law grows out of the legal tradition, so it helps to know how the system works.
Read the Turkey legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →
Who owns what in a marriage in Turkey? →
Official sources
Other countries
AlbaniaAlgeriaArgentinaArmeniaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBelarusBelgiumBosnia and HerzegovinaBrazilBulgariaCanadaChileChinaColombiaCroatiaCyprusCzechiaDenmarkEgyptEstoniaFinlandFranceGeorgiaGermanyGreeceHong KongHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIrelandIsraelItalyJapanJordanKazakhstanKenyaKuwaitLatviaLebanonLithuaniaLuxembourgMalaysiaMaltaMexicoMoldovaMontenegroMoroccoNetherlandsNew ZealandNorth MacedoniaNorwayPakistanPeruPhilippinesPolandPortugalQatarRomaniaRussiaSaudi ArabiaSerbiaSingaporeSlovakiaSloveniaSouth AfricaSouth KoreaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTaiwanThailandTunisiaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesUzbekistanVenezuela
TheLawToKnow Tools’s inheritance guide is an educational overview of general rules. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace the official source or a lawyer in the country. Report a mistake.
