A statutory inheritance share depends on a person’s family relationship to the deceased and on the other heirs. A surviving spouse does not receive the same fraction in every family. Children, parents and more distant relatives also inherit in a defined order. This guide explains the basic statutory rules of the Turkish Civil Code (TMK) and gives worked examples. TMK Articles 495–501.

This explanation describes the current rules. Heirship and the passing of an estate are governed by the provisions in force when the deceased died; do not automatically apply today’s fractions to an earlier death. Law No. 4722, Article 17.

Further reading: Muhammet Çoban — inheritance law at the date of death (in Turkish) explains why the date of death determines the applicable rules, with a separate section on the transition between the old and new codes.

Sources checked: · Türkçe okuyun

Who inherits, and in what order?

For blood relatives, the system follows family branches arranged in groups known in Turkish as zümre. Heirs in an earlier group exclude the later groups. The spouse may inherit alongside the relevant group at the fractions explained below. TMK Articles 495–499.

  • First group: children and their descendants. Children receive equal shares. If a child died before the deceased, that child’s descendants take the share within that branch. For example, one surviving child and two children of a predeceased child do not receive three equal shares: the estate is first divided between the two child branches. TMK Article 495.
  • Second group: parents and their descendants. If the deceased has no descendants, the mother and father inherit equally. A predeceased parent’s descendants take that parent’s place, allowing siblings and, where relevant, their descendants to inherit. If one parental side has no heir, its share passes to the other side. A sibling does not take an additional share through a parental branch while that parent is alive. TMK Article 496.
  • Third group: grandparents and their descendants. This group is reached only if there are no heirs in the first two groups. Without a surviving spouse, descendants may take the place of a predeceased grandparent; Article 497 governs redistribution within and between the maternal and paternal sides. With a surviving spouse, representation is narrower: grandparents’ children, meaning the deceased’s aunts and uncles, may inherit, but cousins do not inherit alongside the spouse solely through that relationship. TMK Articles 497 and 499.

This rule about taking another person’s place concerns death before the deceased. If an heir was alive when the deceased died and dies afterwards, the inheritance right already acquired passes to that heir’s own heirs. The two sequences of deaths require different calculations. If a person dies leaving no heir, the estate passes to the State. TMK Articles 501, 575 and 580.

Further reading: Büşra Nişancı — Zümre Sistemi (in Turkish) uses a branch-based example to explain why grandchildren in the same generation can receive different shares.

How much does the surviving spouse inherit?

The spouse’s statutory fraction changes with the accompanying group:

  • With descendants: the spouse receives 1/4; the descendants receive 3/4 in total.
  • With the parents’ group: the spouse receives 1/2; that group receives 1/2 in total. Siblings inheriting in a parent’s place belong to this group.
  • With grandparents or their children: the spouse receives 3/4; those relatives receive 1/4 in total.
  • If none of these relatives can inherit alongside the spouse: the spouse receives the whole estate.

These fractions describe the spouse’s inheritance share, not a claim under the spouses’ marital property regime. The existence of cousins alone does not reduce the spouse’s share to 3/4. TMK Articles 497 and 499.

Further reading: Saim İncekaş — TMK Madde 499 (in Turkish) summarizes the Constitutional Court’s equality review of the limits on third-group inheritance alongside the surviving spouse; see also the official judgment.

How are children, adoption and parentage treated?

Children’s statutory shares do not differ by sex. A child born outside marriage whose legal relationship to the father has been established by recognition or a court decision inherits on the father’s side in the same way as a child born within marriage. The legal relationship to the mother is established by birth. The parents’ marital status alone is therefore not a reason to exclude a child; legally established parentage must be considered. TMK Articles 282, 495 and 498.

An adopted person and their descendants inherit from the adopter as blood relatives would; the adopted person’s inheritance rights in their family of origin also continue. However, the adopter and the adopter’s relatives do not become statutory heirs of the adopted person merely because of the adoption. Adoption does not automatically make the adopted person an heir of every relative of the adopter either. This specific relationship should not be read as creating reciprocal inheritance rights across both entire families. TMK Articles 314 and 500.

Inheritance shares in seven example families

These examples assume only the family relationships described and no will, inheritance agreement, renunciation after death, agreement waiving inheritance rights, disinheritance or unworthiness to inherit that changes the outcome. “Surviving” and “predeceased” refer to the time of the deceased person’s death. The calculations show statutory fractions, not the allocation of a particular asset or the net amount a person will receive.

  1. Spouse and two surviving children: the spouse receives 1/4 and each child 3/8. Check: 1/4 + 3/8 + 3/8 = 1. TMK Articles 495 and 499.
  2. No spouse; one surviving child and a predeceased child who left two surviving children: the surviving child receives 1/2; each child of the predeceased child receives 1/4. Check: 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/4 = 1. TMK Article 495.
  3. No descendants; spouse and both parents survive: the spouse receives 1/2, the mother 1/4 and the father 1/4. Check: 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/4 = 1. TMK Articles 496 and 499.
  4. No descendants; spouse and mother survive, the father predeceased, and two full siblings survive: the spouse receives 1/2, the mother 1/4, and each sibling 1/8. The siblings divide the father’s 1/4 branch. Check: 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/8 = 1. TMK Articles 496 and 499.
  5. No spouse or descendants; both parents predeceased; one full sibling and one paternal half-sibling survive: the full sibling receives 3/4 and the paternal half-sibling 1/4. The mother’s 1/2 branch goes to the full sibling; the father’s 1/2 branch is divided equally between both siblings. Check: 3/4 + 1/4 = 1. TMK Article 496.
  6. No heirs in the first two groups; spouse and all four grandparents survive: the spouse receives 3/4 and each grandparent 1/16. Check: 3/4 + 4 × 1/16 = 1. TMK Articles 497 and 499.
  7. The spouse survives; there are no descendants, parents or parents’ descendants; all grandparents and their children predeceased, leaving only cousins: the spouse receives 1 and the cousins receive 0 through that relationship. With a surviving spouse, the third group’s inheritance rights do not extend to cousins. TMK Articles 497 and 499.

Further reading: Barış Berkay Çiftçi — Yasal Mirasçılık ve Miras Payları (in Turkish) gives a monetary example showing how a predeceased child’s branch is divided among grandchildren after the spouse’s share is set aside.

Is a statutory share the same as a reserved share?

No. The statutory share is the fraction provided by the inheritance rules. The reserved share, or saklı pay, is the protected part of certain heirs’ statutory shares that limits the deceased’s freedom to dispose of the estate. It is not an additional share on top of the statutory share. If there is a will or another disposition, the family calculation above alone does not settle the outcome. TMK Articles 505–506 and 560.

  • Descendants: one half of their own statutory share is reserved.
  • Each parent: one quarter of their own statutory share is reserved.
  • Spouse: the whole statutory share is reserved when inheriting with descendants or the parents’ group; in other cases, three quarters of the statutory share is reserved.
  • Siblings: they may be statutory heirs, but have no reserved share under the current rules.

In the first example, the spouse’s statutory and reserved shares are both 1/4. Each child’s statutory share is 3/8 and their reserved share is half of that, or 3/16. The total reserved fraction is 5/8, leaving a disposable fraction of 3/8 in this simple example. In an actual estate, deductions for debts and relevant lifetime transfers must also be examined. An infringement of reserved shares may require a separate legal remedy such as reduction, subject to its own conditions; this table does not automatically invalidate a disposition. TMK Articles 505–508 and 560.

What property do these fractions apply to?

The scope of the estate must first be established. The surviving spouse’s own assets must be distinguished from those of the deceased, and the applicable marital property regime and any liquidation claims must be examined. A participation claim based on the residual value of acquired property is different from an inheritance share. “The spouse first takes half of everything, then inherits from the rest” is not a formula that applies to every family or asset. Personal property, acquired property, debts and the applicable regime affect the result. TMK Articles 202, 220, 225, 231 and 236.

Inheritance is acquired as a whole at death; subject to statutory exceptions, debts are also involved. Multiple heirs may be jointly and severally liable for estate debts. A 1/4 inheritance share does not necessarily limit liability to a creditor to 1/4 of a debt. If debts or renunciation are relevant, see the guide to renouncing an inheritance. TMK Articles 599 and 641.

With multiple heirs, an inheritance community exists until partition. A 1/4 share does not entitle an heir to select a room in a particular house or take the same fraction from a bank account independently. For documenting heirship, see the certificate of inheritance guide. TMK Articles 598 and 640.

Three frequently asked questions

Do parents inherit alongside the deceased’s children?

Under the ordinary statutory rules described here, descendants form the first group and take priority over the parents’ group. The fact that the parents are alive does not give them an additional statutory share alongside the children. The spouse’s share is assessed separately. TMK Articles 495–496 and 499.

Do siblings always receive equal shares?

No. It matters which parent each sibling descends from and who else is in that branch. As the fifth example shows, a full sibling and a sibling sharing only one parent can receive different fractions. TMK Article 496.

If an heir renounces, is their share added equally to the others?

Not in every case. Different rules address renunciation by an individual statutory heir, by all of the nearest statutory heirs and by all descendants. Removing one name and equalising the remaining fractions is not a reliable method. See the separate explanation of how renunciation affects other heirs. TMK Articles 611–614.

This guide provides general information. It does not determine a person’s actual share without examining the heirs, order of deaths, parentage records and any dispositions on death. It does not decide which country’s law applies to a cross-border estate.

Official sources and review date

Sources and share calculations were checked on 29 September 2026. This date does not mean that an individual case has been legally reviewed. Read about the guide’s publishing approach.

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