Making a Will in Turkey as a Foreigner: The Complete 2026 Legal Guide

1. Why a Foreign Property Owner Should Consider a Turkish Will

Turkish private international law draws a line through a foreign owner's estate. Under Article 20 of the Act on Private International and Procedural Law No. 5718, succession is in principle governed by the national law of the deceased — but immovable property located in Turkey is governed by Turkish law. A bank balance in London and an apartment in Kadıköy are therefore inherited under two different legal systems, even though they belonged to the same person. How a foreigner comes to own that apartment in the first place — the acquisition and title side — is covered in our guide to buying property in Turkey.

A will validly made abroad is not worthless in Turkey. Turkish law recognises a will that satisfies the formal requirements of the place where it was made or of the testator's national law, so a foreign will does not fail simply because it looks nothing like a Turkish one. The difficulty is substantive, not formal: for the Turkish real estate, the foreign will runs into Turkish forced-heirship rules, and any disposition that breaches a protected heir's reserved share is liable to be reduced. We cover how that plays out — and how heirs actually claim — in our guide to Turkish inheritance law for foreigners.

A Turkish-law will covering the Turkish assets solves a quieter problem as well: coordination. Where a person holds one will at home and one in Turkey, the two documents must be drafted so that neither accidentally revokes the other — a standard "I revoke all previous wills" clause in a later home-country will can silently wipe out a carefully made Turkish will. This is a drafting point, not a formality, and it is where estate plans most often go wrong in practice. For those settling here for the long term, the will belongs in the wider plan set out in our guide to retiring in Turkey as a foreigner.

2. Who Can Make a Will Under Turkish Law

The threshold is set by Article 502 of the Turkish Civil Code No. 4721: the testator must have the capacity to distinguish right from wrong in respect of the act (ayırt etme gücü) and must have completed the age of fifteen. There is no requirement of Turkish citizenship or residence — a foreign national visiting Turkey can make a Turkish will.

The statute asks only for capacity; day-to-day notarial practice asks for proof of it. Notaries commonly request a recent medical report confirming the testator's capacity, particularly for elderly testators, and the file moves faster when the report is obtained shortly before the appointment. This is worth planning for: the report is a practical gatekeeping step even though the Civil Code itself does not mention it.

3. The Three Forms of Will Under the Civil Code

Article 531 of the Civil Code permits a will to be made in exactly three forms: an official will drawn up before a public officer, a handwritten (holographic) will, and — in narrow emergency conditions — an oral will. The list is closed; a typed and signed document that fits none of the three forms is not a will under Turkish law, however clearly it expresses the person's wishes. Each form carries its own formal requirements, and Turkish courts enforce those requirements strictly, because the form is what stands in for the testator once they can no longer speak for themselves.

4. The Official (Notarized) Will — the Form Most Foreigners Should Use

The official will is regulated by Articles 532 to 537 of the Civil Code. It is drawn up by a public officer — in practice almost always a notary, though a civil peace judge can also act — with the participation of two witnesses. The testator declares their wishes; the officer puts them into a formal deed; the testator reads and signs it; the officer dates and signs it; and the testator then declares before the two witnesses that the document contains their last wishes, which the witnesses attest in writing, together with their assessment that the testator appeared capable of the act. Where the testator cannot read or write, the Code provides an alternative route in which the officer reads the deed aloud in the presence of the witnesses.

The witnesses are not a formality. Under Article 536, persons lacking legal capacity, persons unable to read and write, and the testator's spouse and close blood relatives cannot participate as officer or witness — and neither the officer, the witnesses, nor their close relatives may receive anything under the will. A gift to a witness's spouse, for example, taints that disposition and exposes it to being set aside. Choosing two independent, literate adults with no stake in the estate is therefore part of the legal design, not a courtesy.

For a foreigner, there is one more layer: language. The deed is drawn up in Turkish, and under Article 74 of the Notaries Act No. 1512, a person who does not speak Turkish transacts before the notary through a sworn interpreter. Everything the testator wants therefore crosses a language line before it becomes binding text — and if the crossing is imprecise, the will says something slightly different from what was intended, permanently. In our practice this is exactly where the firm's dual qualification does its work: the attorney planning the estate is also a certified English–Turkish sworn translator, so the legal intent and the Turkish wording are controlled by the same hand rather than negotiated between a lawyer and an interpreter who have never seen each other's part of the file.

The official will costs more than the handwritten form — notarial fees scale with the deed, and interpreter and drafting work are added on top — but what it buys is resilience. It is drafted by a professional, executed under state supervision, recorded, and very hard to lose or suppress. For a foreign testator whose heirs may be thousands of kilometres away when the will matters most, those properties are usually decisive.

5. The Handwritten Will — Simple, but Easy to Get Wrong

Article 538 of the Civil Code recognises a will written entirely in the testator's own hand, showing the year, month and day it was made, and signed. Every element is mandatory: a will typed on a computer and signed by hand fails, a will written by someone else at the testator's dictation fails, and a missing or incomplete date can be fatal to the document. Nothing in the provision requires the Turkish language, and it is generally accepted that a will handwritten in the testator's own language can satisfy the form — though it will need sworn translation when the time comes to use it in Turkey.

The handwritten will's weakness is not validity but survival. A document kept in a drawer can be lost, destroyed, or simply never found by heirs abroad. The Code allows the testator to deposit a handwritten will, open or sealed, with a notary or a judge for safekeeping, and for a foreign testator this step converts a fragile private paper into something the system knows exists. A handwritten will that no one ever submits to a court after the death achieves nothing.

6. The Oral Will — an Emergency Measure Only

Articles 539 to 541 of the Civil Code allow an oral will only where extraordinary circumstances — an imminent danger of death, cut-off transport, illness, war — make both the official and the handwritten forms impossible. The testator declares their last wishes to two witnesses, who must have the declaration put into writing and before a court without delay. The form is deliberately temporary: once the testator is again in a position to use the ordinary forms, the oral will lapses after one month. It is a legal safety net for emergencies, not an estate-planning instrument, and it has no sensible role in a foreign owner's planning.

7. What a Turkish Will Cannot Do: Reserved Shares and Joint Wills

A Turkish will operates inside the boundaries of forced heirship. Articles 505 and 506 of the Civil Code reserve a protected share of the estate for the testator's descendants, parents and spouse, and a will that intrudes on those shares is exposed to a reduction action by the protected heirs. The shares, the one-year window for that action, and the way heirs enforce it are set out in our inheritance guide, and nothing about making the will changes them. Realistic planning starts from the disposable portion, not from the whole estate.

One further limit matters to couples in particular: Turkish law does not provide for joint wills. Spouses cannot make a single will together, and a joint document signed by both — a common instrument in some legal systems — raises serious validity problems for Turkish assets. The safe course is for each spouse to make a separate will. Where a couple wants binding mutual arrangements, Turkish law offers the inheritance contract (miras sözleşmesi) under Article 545 of the Civil Code, which must itself be executed in the form of an official will; whether it fits a particular family is a question for tailored advice rather than a default choice.

8. After Signing: Safekeeping, Registration and What Happens on Death

An official will does not simply go home with the testator. Under Article 69 of the Notaries Act, notaries keep the wills deposited with them, record the fact, and notify the civil registry office where the testator is registered, so that the existence of the will is attached to the person's official records. On death, the notary forwards a certified copy through the public prosecutor's office to the competent civil peace court (sulh hukuk mahkemesi) — the court that opens the will, reads it, and notifies the interested parties. The machinery is designed so that a properly made official will surfaces even if no family member knew it existed.

That machinery still works better with help. Heirs living abroad face the practical side of a Turkish succession — the certificate of inheritance, apostilles, sworn translations, the land registry — and a will is only the first document in that chain. The step-by-step process for a foreign heir, including handling it entirely from abroad, is covered in our inheritance guide; a testator can make their heirs' lives considerably easier by leaving them, alongside the will, the name of the lawyer who holds the file.

9. Changing Your Mind: Revoking or Replacing a Turkish Will

A will binds no one while the testator is alive. The Civil Code allows the testator to revoke a will at any time — by making a new will, by destroying the document, or through later dispositions inconsistent with it — and a later valid will displaces an earlier one to the extent they conflict. What deserves care is, again, coordination: anyone maintaining wills in two countries should treat every new will, in either country, as an event that requires checking the other document.

After the death, a will that was validly made can still be challenged. Article 557 of the Civil Code lists the annulment grounds — lack of capacity, defects of will such as duress or deception, unlawful or immoral conditions, and defects of form — and Article 559 sets the time limits: one year from the day the claimant learns of the ground, and in any event ten years from the opening of the will against defendants in good faith, twenty against those in bad faith. Strict compliance with the form at the moment of signing is the cheapest insurance against all of it.

10. Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make a Turkish will in English? An official will is drawn up in Turkish; if you do not speak Turkish, a sworn interpreter takes part in the notarial process under Article 74 of the Notaries Act. A handwritten will can generally be written in your own language, but it will need sworn translation when used in Turkey.

Do I need a Turkish will if I already have one at home? Not always, but for Turkish real estate it is usually the cleaner solution. A foreign will can be recognised as to form, yet Turkish law governs your Turkish immovable property and its reserved shares regardless — a Turkish-law will avoids recognition friction and coordination accidents.

Can my spouse and I make one joint will? No. Turkish law does not provide for joint wills; each spouse should make a separate will. Couples who want binding mutual arrangements can consider an inheritance contract, which must be executed in official-will form.

Do the witnesses have to be Turkish citizens? The Civil Code does not require Turkish citizenship. Witnesses must be literate adults with legal capacity who are not your spouse or close relatives, and neither they nor their close relatives may receive anything under the will.

How much does a notarized will cost? Costs consist of notarial fees, sworn-interpreter fees where needed, and legal drafting work, and they change with official tariffs. Expect the official will to cost meaningfully more than a handwritten one — that difference buys drafting quality, state execution, and safekeeping.

Can I leave my Turkish property to anyone I choose? Only within the disposable portion. Turkish law reserves protected shares for descendants, parents and the spouse, and a will that intrudes on them can be reduced by court action. Planning starts from what is freely disposable.

Can I make a Turkish will remotely, through a power of attorney? No. A will is a strictly personal act and cannot be made through a representative. The planning and drafting can be prepared while you are abroad, but the will itself must be executed by you personally.

What happens if I die without any will? Your Turkish immovable property passes to your statutory heirs in the order and shares fixed by the Turkish Civil Code, and your movable assets pass under your national law. Our inheritance guide explains the statutory order and the process your heirs would follow.

How will my heirs find out the will exists? For an official will, the notary records it and notifies the civil registry; on death, a certified copy is forwarded to the competent civil peace court, which opens the will and notifies interested parties. A handwritten will kept privately has no such safety net unless deposited for safekeeping.

Can I change or cancel my Turkish will later? Yes, at any time — by making a new will, destroying the document, or making later dispositions inconsistent with it. If you keep wills in two countries, review both whenever you change either.

Is a handwritten will valid without a notary? Yes, if it is written entirely in your own hand, shows the year, month and day, and is signed. Typed text, someone else's handwriting, or a missing date defeats the form. Depositing it with a notary or judge protects it from being lost.

Can my will appoint someone to carry it out? Yes. Turkish law allows the testator to appoint an executor (vasiyeti yerine getirme görevlisi) to administer and implement the will — a sensible step where the heirs live abroad and the estate includes Turkish real estate.