A reserved share is the minimum inheritance entitlement protected for certain heirs. A reduction claim, known as tenkis, seeks to reduce a disposition to the extent needed to restore that protection. Not every heir has a reserved share, and leaving more property to one person than another does not by itself establish a valid reduction claim. The first question is whether the claimant’s protected entitlement is actually deficient. Civil Code, Articles 505-506 and 560.

This guide provides general information for estates governed by Turkish law. The date of death, heirship, an inheritance waiver or disinheritance, international elements and the nature of the transaction can affect the outcome. It does not replace an assessment of an individual case.

Sources checked: · Türkçe okuyun

Which heirs have a reserved share?

The statutory inheritance share and the reserved share are different concepts. First establish which other heirs inherit alongside the person concerned. Then apply the relevant protection fraction to that person’s statutory share. Descendants include children and, where the rules of representation apply, their descendants. See our guide to legal heirs and inheritance shares for the family groups.

Fractions applied to the statutory share under Article 506
Heir Reserved entitlement
Descendants 1/2 of their own statutory share
Each parent 1/4 of that parent’s statutory share
A spouse inheriting with descendants or the parental line The whole of the spouse’s statutory share
The surviving spouse in other cases 3/4 of the spouse’s statutory share

These fractions are not applied directly to the entire estate. For example, where a spouse and two children inherit, each child’s statutory share is 3/8 and their reserved share is half of that, or 3/16. Under the current rules, siblings and grandparents do not have reserved shares. Earlier deaths require separate consideration of the rules then in force and transitional provisions. Civil Code, Articles 495, 499 and 506.

Lawyer Alper Germen also explains this two-stage approach in his reserved-share article, starting with the statutory entitlement and then applying the protection fraction (in Turkish).

How are the estate and the reserved-share shortfall calculated?

The starting point is the estate’s position on the date of death. Looking only at the disputed house is insufficient. Assets and receivables are identified, and the statutory deductions include the deceased’s debts, funeral expenses, estate sealing and inventory expenses, and three months’ maintenance for people who lived with and were supported by the deceased. Entitlements arising from liquidation of the spouses’ matrimonial property regime are assessed separately from inheritance shares. Civil Code, Articles 202, 225, 231, 236 and 507.

Lifetime gratuitous benefits are added for calculation purposes to the extent that they are subject to reduction. The value of every past gift or sale is not automatically added. For life insurance benefiting a third party, the surrender value at death matters where the statutory conditions apply. The calculation base can therefore differ from the assets remaining at death. Civil Code, Articles 508-509.

  1. Establish the estate value used for the calculation.
  2. Calculate each protected heir’s statutory share and reserved fraction.
  3. Subtract the total reserved entitlements to find the disposable portion.
  4. Assess what the particular heir receives from the estate and relevant benefits; identify any shortfall against their reserved entitlement.

The amount by which the disposable portion is exceeded is not necessarily the amount a particular claimant will recover. Each heir’s receipts and claim, the order of reduction and the recipients’ positions must be examined. Civil Code, Articles 560-561 and 570.

Three simple reserved-share examples

Each example assumes a net calculation base of TRY 4,000,000, with no additional gifts to add, matrimonial property claim, inheritance waiver or disinheritance. The figures illustrate the fractions only.

The same net value with different groups of heirs
Heirs Statutory shares Reserved amounts Disposable amount
Spouse and two children Spouse 1/4; each child 3/8 Spouse TRY 1,000,000; each child TRY 750,000 TRY 1,500,000 (3/8)
Spouse and both parents; no descendants Spouse 1/2; each parent 1/4 Spouse TRY 2,000,000; each parent TRY 250,000 TRY 1,500,000 (3/8)
Two children only; no spouse Each child 1/2 Each child TRY 1,000,000 TRY 2,000,000 (1/2)

In the first example, a child’s reserved entitlement is TRY 750,000. If the child receives value totalling TRY 500,000, the shortfall is TRY 250,000, assuming there are no further adjustments or special circumstances. A reduction claim does not automatically entitle that child to demand the whole TRY 1,500,000 statutory share. Civil Code, Articles 495-496, 499, 506 and 560.

Which dispositions can be subject to reduction?

Benefits under a will or inheritance contract may be reduced if they impair a reserved entitlement. For lifetime gratuitous benefits, Article 565 separately identifies these groups:

  • Advances against inheritance to a statutory heir who loses heirship; transfers of assets or releases from debt to descendants without an obligation to return them; and unusually large dowries or business establishment capital.
  • Benefits intended to settle inheritance rights before death.
  • Gifts with a freely exercisable right of revocation, and gifts made during the year before death other than customary presents.
  • Benefits clearly intended to defeat the reserved-share rules.

A gift is not automatically immune from reduction because it is more than a year old. It may fall within another statutory category. The one-year period before death in this provision is different from the one-year period for bringing a claim after learning of the infringement. A transaction for real consideration is not automatically a gift merely because it reduced the deceased’s assets. Civil Code, Articles 565 and 571.

Who can claim, and when do the time limits begin?

Ordinarily, an heir whose reserved entitlement is deficient seeks reduction against the recipient of the relevant benefit. The recipient may be another heir or a third party. Article 562 also gives an heir’s creditors or bankruptcy administration a right to sue in specified circumstances. A reduction action concerning a future reserved-share shortfall cannot be brought while the deceased is still alive: succession opens on death. Civil Code, Articles 560, 562 and 575.

  • One year: From learning that the reserved share has been infringed.
  • The ten-year outer limit: From the opening of the will for wills, and from the opening of succession, meaning death, for other dispositions.
  • Special situation: If invalidating a disposition brings an earlier one into effect, the periods begin when the invalidation judgment becomes final.

These are forfeiture periods for bringing the action. The ten-year outer limit does not give an heir ten years to wait after learning of the infringement. When the heir learned of it is assessed using the documents, notifications and circumstances. The ability to raise reduction as a defence at any time does not revive an expired right to bring a new action. Civil Code, Article 571.

What is the order of reduction, and does the result always involve title to land?

Reduction starts with dispositions taking effect on death and, if necessary, proceeds through lifetime benefits from the most recent to the oldest until the reserved entitlement is restored. Benefits to public legal entities and public-benefit associations and foundations are reduced last. Where there are multiple death-related benefits, proportionality rules and the deceased’s intention matter; a recipient’s own reserved entitlement must also be considered. Civil Code, Articles 561, 563 and 570.

The outcome is not invariably the return of the entire property or registration of a land share for the claimant. Where a specific legacy cannot be divided without loss of value, the legatee has statutory alternatives involving receiving the property against payment of the reduction amount or claiming the value of the disposable portion. The Code extends these rules to lifetime benefits. Valuation at the judgment date and the limits on a good-faith recipient’s duty to return benefits are separate from the initial calculation at death. Civil Code, Articles 564 and 566.

Court, mediation and formulating the claim

The court with subject-matter jurisdiction over a reduction action is the civil court of first instance, asliye hukuk mahkemesi. The deceased’s last place of residence is the starting point for territorial jurisdiction. Do not assume that every case belongs in the court where a property is located or in the civil court of peace. Claims combined with other remedies and international elements require separate assessment. Civil Code, Article 576; Code of Civil Procedure, Articles 2 and 11.

A reduction claim is distinct from partition or termination of co-ownership. The mandatory pre-action mediation provision for partition and termination of co-ownership in Article 18/B of Law No. 6325 does not extend to reduction merely because the dispute concerns inheritance. A standalone reduction action is not one of the disputes listed in that limb; accompanying claims must be checked separately. Law No. 6325, Article 18/B; see our estate partition guide.

Current procedural note: At the source-check date, Article 107 of the Code of Civil Procedure has been repealed, and increasing a partial claim is regulated by Article 109(4). An older recommendation to bring an “unquantified debt action” should not be copied automatically. The new provision’s effect on limitation does not establish automatic protection against the forfeiture periods for reduction. The filing date, transitional provisions, type of relief and scope of the claim must be assessed together. Code of Civil Procedure, Articles 107 and 109.

Which documents help, and how does reduction differ from invalidating a will?

A starting file may include the certificate of inheritance and family records, the date of death, any will and its opening and notification papers, land and transfer records, gift documents, bank movements, and evidence of debts and expenses. Preserve records showing when the infringement became known. This working list does not mean every document is mandatory in every case. Allegations and the evidence supporting them need to be specific. Code of Civil Procedure, Articles 119, 190 and 194.

For additional reading on preparing documents, the inheritance guide by Lawyer Saim İncekaş, one of the best inheritance lawyers in Adana, discusses gift documents for reduction alongside certificates of inheritance and asset records (in Turkish). Our certificate of inheritance guide explains that document’s role.

Invalidation of a will concerns grounds such as capacity, defective consent, unlawful content or formal defects. Reduction concerns a reserved-share shortfall. Lawyer Emre Taş separately explains the purposes of invalidation and reduction in his article on challenging a will (in Turkish). Merely objecting in the will-opening proceedings is not the same as bringing the necessary action and preserving its time limit. Civil Code, Articles 557, 559-560 and 571.

Equalisation between heirs is another distinct mechanism: it accounts for certain gratuitous benefits when partitioning the estate. Describing an event as “concealing inheritance assets” does not establish the correct remedy; the transaction, benefit and relief sought must be identified. Civil Code, Article 669. See our wills guide for preparing and opening a will.

Official sources and related guides

Continue with the guides to inheritance shares, wills and estate partition.