Who inherits without a will in Turkmenistan?

In this model the spouse, the children and the parents are the first rank of heirs and inherit in equal shares.

The spouse is in the first rank. With no children and no parents the spouse takes everything; siblings and grandparents inherit only if there is no first-rank heir.

Heirs are called in ranks, a nearer rank excluding a farther one: first the children and the parents; then the siblings and the grandparents; then the uncles and aunts. If there is no heir, the state inherits.

An unmarried partner does not inherit by law. They inherit only if there is a will.

Minor or disabled children and dependants usually have a protected share that a will cannot take away. The size is set in the civil code.

The law of the place where land lies usually governs the land, and the law of the person's last home usually governs the rest. An estate with a foreign element needs advice in the country.

• For Muslims, Islamic law gives fixed shares to the spouse, children, parents and others, and a son takes twice a daughter's share.

Turkmenistan 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 Turkmenistan legal-system profile in the Legal Families Atlas →
Who owns what in a marriage in Turkmenistan? →

• JuriGlobe, University of Ottawa: world legal systems
• World Bank: Women, Business and the Law (country data on inheritance rights)