Inheritance Law

Turkish inheritance law regulates the transfer of a person's (the testator's) assets, rights, and obligations as a whole (the estate, "tereke") to their heirs. This transfer occurs automatically at the moment of death according to the principle of universal succession ("Külli Halefiyet"); thus, ownership does not expire upon death but continues for the heirs.
The right of inheritance is a fundamental right guaranteed by Article 35 of the Constitution of the Turkish Republic. This constitutional guarantee protects private property and testamentary freedom as essential principles. According to Article 501 of the Turkish Civil Code, the state (the state treasury) only comes into play as the "final legal heir," and only if the testator left neither legal nor testamentary heirs.
The basic principle is therefore the transfer of property to private individuals (the heirs) to protect private property and not its transfer to the state.