Real estate inheritance for foreigners in Turkey ... a successful investment throughout the generations

All experiences so far have proven that the one who chooses to invest in Turkey once, twice, and even more, never regrets as he finds himself in the right place, in a country that in ten years has become a strong global competitor in terms of attracting foreigners to the real estate market.

The year extends for two years and even more so the wealth becomes doubled, a real estate wealth that the owner has grown with his effort would surely like to preserve it by ensuring that it is transferred to his relatives from the children and grandchildren in the event of his death. 

which is something that the Turkish laws guarantee by giving this right to the foreigner who owns the property, and if it is guaranteed what are the rules of inheritance, and who are the persons that are entitled to benefit from it and how?

Does a foreigner have the right to inherit his property in Turkey?

Just like the Turks, foreigners who own property in Turkey of all kinds, "lands, apartments, villas and offices ..." have the right to easily pass on their properties to their relatives.

Foreigners are also allowed to own any type of property in Turkey by means of inheritance, meaning that property ownership in Turkey is entitled to transfer to the legal heirs after the death of its actual owner, thereby obtaining the property ownership with ease and without complications.

Real estate inheritance in Turkey is the transfer of the property from the real owner after his death to his legal heirs, whatever their gender is whether they are, males or females, according to what is stipulated in the Turkish laws, which we will explain later.

The principle of real estate inheritance for foreigners in Turkey

Turkey relies on the foundations of real estate inheritance to foreigners on the principle of "location", which means following the Turkish law in this case since the owner resides in Turkey, that means that the property returns to the legal heirs if any emergency event happened to the actual owner, such as death

Some points that are excluded from the Turkish inheritance principle:

• Turkish inheritance laws apply to legal heirs upon requesting an inventory of inheritance

• If one of the legal inheritors is not convinced by the method of distributing inheritance he is entitled to submit a second application to limit the inheritance according to the laws of the country of origin of the real owner of the property and not according to the Turkish inheritance law.

• An inheritance counting plan only takes place after ensuring that there is no proven will of the dead owner that is documented with a formal approval by the notary in Turkey

The terms of the will in Turkish law

The author of the will is of legal age

The mental integrity of the owner from diseases such as Alzheimer's, dementia and others

Writing the will in personal handwriting with signature "Owner signature"

The will is signed by two witnesses

Determine the date of the will by day, month and year

That the precise details of the will be clearly stated so that they are easy to understand

Certification of the will by a Notary or Turkish court

These are the legal heirs of the foreigner according to Turkish law

Like what we mentioned previously, the right to inherit is forfeited automatically, as soon as there is a document that confirms a validated will for the real owner after death, in which his real estate wealth is distributed according to his options, but in the event of his death without leaving any will, the Turkish law distributes the inheritance according to the detailed kinship sequence as follows:

• The husband or wife and children, where the inheritance is distributed equally to them

• Parents in the absence of the husband / wife and children of the owner

• Grandfather in the absence of a husband, wife, children and parents

• Brothers and sisters, in the absence of the above mentioned "husband, wife, children, and parents"

• Grandchildren and their children in the absence of the aforementioned immediate relatives, the inheritance is transferred to the grandchildren at the last level.

• The Turkish government in the absence of any of the aforementioned legal heirs.

• Withholding one of the heirs from obtaining the inheritance after the death of the owner is possible, if an application is submitted attached with certain reasons to the court, which subsequently decides to deprive the heir of obtaining his share of the inheritance.

 Inheritance fees of property in Turkey and the period of payment

The inheritance tax in Turkey is considered an income tax due and included in the category of lowest taxes in the world, where it can be noted, for example, in the difference between its cost and that of European countries that many foreigners complain of its rising.

The inheritance tax rate is a strong advantage for Turkey, which greatly encourages real estate investment in the country and the payment date of these taxes opens in May or November of every year in a maximum period of 3 years.

Real estate inheritance tax is calculated according to the value of the property, its geographical location, and the inheritance status of the heir, which ranges in general:

• Between 1 to 10 percent of the property value

• Between 1 to 30 percent of the property price

• Different ratios according to the type of residence of the foreign heir

These were the most important clarifications regarding the process of inheriting the property for foreigners in Turkey, where the investor who bought a property can make sure that his property in Turkey is legally preserved during his period of living and guaranteed to his relatives in the event of his death.