Rejecting an Inheritance in Türkiye: Time Limits, Procedure and Debts

Inheritance may include liabilities as well as assets. Turkish law generally transfers the estate to the heirs on death, subject to rejection and the other statutory mechanisms. Waiting to sign an acceptance document does not, by itself, prevent liability.

Express rejection is an unconditional declaration made through the competent civil court of peace within the applicable period. Deemed rejection concerns the statutory presumption for an insolvent estate. It may require a judicial determination or a defence against a creditor. These mechanisms must not be confused.

Simply discovering a large debt is not conclusive proof that the estate was insolvent at death. Assets, liabilities and conduct showing acceptance must be investigated.

Under Article 606, the ordinary rejection period is three months. For a statutory heir it ordinarily begins when they learn of the death, unless they prove that they learned of their status as heir later. For an heir appointed by will, the relevant date is official notification of the disposition.

• Protective inventory: Under Article 607, where an inventory is made as a protective measure, the rejection period begins with the judge's notification that it has been completed.
• Death of an heir: Article 608 transfers an unexercised rejection right to that heir's own heirs and contains special rules for their period.
• A newly entitled heir: Where rejection causes someone who was not previously an heir to become entitled, Article 608 links their period to learning of the preceding rejection.
• Important grounds: Article 615 permits the judge to extend the period or grant a new one. This requires assessment; it is not an automatic extension.

Do not treat three months as ninety days or assume that every document restarts the clock. Record the legally relevant knowledge and notification dates and obtain advice promptly.

Article 609 permits an oral or written declaration to the civil court of peace (sulh hukuk mahkemesi). It must be unconditional and unqualified. The declaration is recorded, and a timely rejection is entered in the special register at the place where the inheritance opened, ordinarily the deceased's last domicile.

• Provide identity information, the death record and documents establishing the heir's status.
• State clearly that the request is an express rejection; mentioning debts does not necessarily turn it into an insolvency action.
• When using a lawyer, obtain a power of attorney expressly authorising rejection.
• Keep the filed declaration, receipt, court record and registration documents. A certificate evidencing rejection may be requested.

A private statement to a bank or relative is not a substitute for the statutory court declaration. Rejecting only the debts while keeping the estate assets is not an unconditional rejection of the inheritance.

The relevant financial position is the deceased's position at death. The court must investigate the whole estate: property, vehicles, bank balances, receivables and other assets, together with debts and liabilities at that date.

Article 605(2) requires inability to pay that was manifest or officially established. Where disputed, an independent declaratory claim is ordinarily brought against the estate creditors in the civil court of first instance. It may also be raised as a defence in suitable proceedings. Jurisdiction and procedure must be assessed in the actual dispute.

The ordinary three-month period for express rejection does not govern deemed rejection in the same way. Nevertheless, procedural response periods in an enforcement file or pending action must still be observed. “No three-month rejection deadline” does not mean that all notices can be ignored.

Conduct adopting the estate can defeat reliance on deemed rejection. The absence of good or bad faith alone does not resolve the question; examine the assets, liabilities and the heir's acts.

Selling estate property, transferring an inherited share or treating estate funds as one's own can create serious risks. Registration followed by disposal must be assessed as a whole; routine protective measures should not be equated with disposal.

Article 610 expressly preserves the right where proceedings or enforcement are initiated to prevent limitation or forfeiture. Obtaining an inheritance certificate, necessary protective steps, tax formalities or a survivor's pension arising independently of the estate should not automatically be treated as acceptance. The precise act and its legal basis remain important.

Before withdrawing money, transferring property or signing a settlement concerning an estate debt, obtain a file-specific assessment. Preserve assets and records without appropriating them.

Where Article 612 liquidation leaves a surplus, it is given to the entitled persons as if they had not rejected. Rejection by an appointed heir and the testator's intention require separate consideration under Article 611.

A valid rejection generally prevents ordinary liability as heir. It does not cancel an independently assumed personal debt or every special statutory liability.

Parental custody and guardianship are different. Under Article 342, parents represent their child within parental custody; the judicial-permission regime for a guardian must not automatically be applied to every parental declaration.

Where a person is represented by a guardian, Article 463(5) requires permission from the guardianship authority and then the supervisory authority for rejection. These are ordinarily the civil court of peace and the civil court of first instance respectively.

A conflict between the child's interests and the legal representative's interests may require an independent representative under Article 426. Relevant parent-child transactions can also raise Article 345 issues. The family tree, the effect of each parent's rejection and the child's position must be examined before deciding who may act.

Apply promptly where representation or permission is needed. If important grounds prevent timely action, Article 615 should be assessed; do not assume that an application for permission automatically stops the rejection period.

Under Article 619, an heir entitled to reject may request an official inventory from the civil judge of peace within one month, following the procedure specified for rejection. A request by one heir also affects the others.

This is distinct from the ordinary three-month rejection period and from a protective inventory under Article 607. The request, announcement process, later choice and potential liability under an inventory-based acceptance have their own provisions. An inventory is not itself an unconditional rejection.

Gather bank and loan records, tax and social-security debts, enforcement files, land and vehicle records and possible receivables. Lack of access to complete information should prompt early advice, not waiting until the final day.

Article 617 protects the rejecting heir's own creditors. If an heir whose assets do not cover their debts rejects in order to harm creditors, those creditors or the bankruptcy administration may seek cancellation where adequate security is not provided.

The statute provides a six-month period from rejection. The legally relevant date, including the declaration, judicial recording and publicity, can be disputed; do not assume that a later discovery of the rejection automatically creates a new six months.

If cancellation is ordered, the estate is officially liquidated. From what would fall to the rejecting heir, the challenging creditors are paid first, followed by other creditors. Any remainder goes to those who would benefit if the rejection were valid. Cancellation does not simply hand the estate back to the debtor without liquidation.

Article 618 concerns a different group: the insolvent deceased's creditors. Rejecting heirs may remain liable, within the statutory measure, for values received from the deceased in the five years before death that they would have had to return in a partition.

Ordinary education and study expenses and customary dowry are excluded. Good-faith heirs are liable only to the extent of the enrichment remaining at the time of restitution.

This exception means that “I rejected, so no creditor can ever claim anything from me” is too broad. Identify the receipt, date, value, restitution basis and good faith rather than assuming liability for every gift or every estate debt.

1. Record the death, knowledge of heirship and official notification dates.
2. Identify all heirs and distinguish individual rejection from all-nearest-heirs rejection.
3. Investigate the estate at the date of death.
4. Avoid appropriation, concealment or disposal while assessing rejection.
5. Check the separate one-month official-inventory period.
6. For a child or protected person, determine representation, conflicts and permissions.
7. Make any express rejection unconditionally through the court and retain the record.
8. Respond to creditor claims and enforcement notices within their own procedural periods.

For related matters, see the inheritance certificate guide. A certificate identifies heirship; it does not, by itself, prove the estate is debt-free.

The main framework is the Turkish Civil Code No. 4721, Articles 605–619. Representation requires particular attention to Articles 342, 345, 426 and 463.

Individual judgments must be read with their facts and procedural posture in the official Court of Cassation search system. A procedural ruling concerning registration or publicity must not be generalised into a universal deadline rule.