In our previous article, we talked about the basic principles of inheritance law, such as what the inheritance debts will be, who can be heirs or not, and how the inheritance is inherited. Apart from these, another important issue in inheritance law is the sharing of inheritance. In this article, we will illuminate the curious issues about how to share inheritance.
The important point in inheritance sharing is whether the testator has a will. If the person left a will that was duly drawn up before his death, then the assets of the person are divided according to the reserved shares as specified in the will. With a testament or other testamentary disposition, the decedent’s right to act on all his assets is prevented by the institution of “inherited share” in Turkish Law. Accordingly, the surviving spouse, children, grandchildren, mother and father are the heirs of the deceased. With the law amendment made in 2007, the reserved share of the brothers/sisters of the testator on the inheritance was abolished. After deducting the debts of the estate, funeral expenses, precautionary expenses, 3-month living expenses of the people living with the legator from the assets of the estate, the reserved shares and savings rates are calculated over the remaining inheritance. The reserved share determined in the law is calculated over the legal inheritance share and is as follows; Half of the inheritance share for the children of the inheritor, ¼ of the inheritance share for each of the parents, for the surviving spouse, the entire legal inheritance share in case of parents or children and heirs, in other cases ¾ of the inheritance share. After deducting the total of all these hidden shares mentioned above, the remaining ratio is the seizin ratio of the inheritor.
WHAT IF THE TESTATOR DID NOT MAKE A WILL BEFORE HE DIED?
If the testator has not drawn up a will, the division of inheritance varies depending on whether the spouse is alive or not, and it should be noted that the shares of the heirs in each class/degree will be equal.
-First of all, when the inheritance is shared between the surviving spouse and the 1st degree heirs, the spouse will receive a ¼ share from the inheritance. The remaining inheritance is divided equally among the children, and in the absence of children, it is divided among their grandchildren.
-In the absence of 1st degree heirs, the inheritance is shared between the 2nd degree heirs, that is, the mother and father of the testator and the surviving spouse of the testator. In this case, the surviving spouse’s share of inheritance will be ½ and the remaining inheritance will be shared equally between the parents. Of course, in this case, if the mother and father are not alive, siblings from the same mother and father will be the ones who will receive a share of the inheritance.
– In the absence of parents and siblings, 3rd degree heirs, that is, grandparents, will be the ones who will receive a share from the inheritance. In such a situation, the surviving spouse’s share of inheritance is ¾, while the remaining estate is divided equally between the grandparents. If the grandparents are not alive, their descendants such as aunt and uncle will take their share.
In the absence of any of the first, second and third degree heirs listed, the surviving spouse will receive the entire inheritance. If there is no heir, including the spouse, the inheritance remains with the state.
In the inheritance law, the most likely loss of rights is the sharing of the inheritance. In order not to suffer such a loss of rights, it would be beneficial to work with a lawyer who is an expert in inheritance sharing. You can contact our expert team for all kinds of help and support regarding Inheritance Law, such as inheritance sharing.
