Child custody (velayet) in Türkiye is decided solely on the best interests of the child; nationality and income are not deciding factors. While married, parents hold custody jointly, and on divorce the court assigns it based on the child's age and routine, each parent's capacity, and whether the requesting parent will support the child's relationship with the other parent. Joint custody after divorce is possible but not automatic, and taking a child abroad without the other parent's consent or a court's permission can trigger a Hague Convention return case.
Custody, velayet, in Türkiye is decided on one criterion: the best interests of the child. Nationality does not decide it, residence status does not decide it, and neither does which parent earns more or which parent is Turkish. What changes when the family is international is not the test but the practical questions the court has to answer in applying it: whether the child will grow up in Türkiye or abroad, whether contact across a border can realistically be maintained, whether a parent who has already removed or withheld the child can be trusted with an arrangement that depends on cooperation, and whether an order made in a Turkish family court will be recognised and enforced in the other parent's country, or an order made there in Türkiye. This guide explains who holds custody under the Turkish Civil Code, Law No. 4721, and when the court decides it, what the court actually weighs, how joint custody after divorce has come to be available, how contact orders are drafted when a parent lives abroad, the rules on taking a child out of Türkiye, how an existing order is varied and enforced, and what a foreign custody order is worth in Türkiye until it has been recognised.
Quick Answer: While the parents are married, custody is exercised jointly under Article 336 of the Turkish Civil Code. On divorce the family court assigns custody to one parent or, where both parents can cooperate and the arrangement serves the child, orders joint custody, which Turkish courts have accepted since the Court of Cassation's 2017 decisions following Türkiye's ratification of the European Convention on the Legal Status of Children Born out of Wedlock. Where the parents were never married, custody belongs to the mother by law under Article 337, and the father may apply for it to be transferred or shared. The court decides on the best interests of the child under Article 182, weighing the child's age and continuity of care, school, language and social environment, each parent's capacity and availability, the child's own view with weight matched to maturity, and whether each parent will support the child's relationship with the other, with substantial reliance on expert reports from social workers and psychologists. A child subject to shared custody or a travel restriction cannot leave Türkiye without the other parent's notarised consent or the family court's permission, and removal without either converts the matter into a return case under the 1980 Hague Convention. Custody and contact orders may be varied on evidence of a material change of circumstances under Article 183, and are enforced through the judicial support and victim services directorates rather than the enforcement offices since Law No. 7343 of 2021. A foreign custody order has no effect in Türkiye until recognised, and where necessary enforced, under Articles 50 to 59 of the Code on Private International and Procedural Law, Law No. 5718.
Article 182 of the Turkish Civil Code directs the court, when a marriage is dissolved, to regulate the rights of the parents in respect of the children, and the Court of Cassation has consistently read this, together with Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Türkiye is a party, as requiring the court to decide custody by reference to the child's best interests alone. The principle has three consequences that matter to international families. The nationality of a parent is not a factor, and a foreign parent is in no weaker position than a Turkish one. The financial means of a parent are relevant only to the extent they bear on the child's care, and the wealthier parent does not win by that fact. And the court's decision is forward looking: it asks where and with whom the child will be better off, not which parent was at fault in the breakdown of the marriage, although conduct that bears on parenting capacity, including violence or the obstruction of the other parent's relationship with the child, is relevant for that reason.
Under Article 336 of the Civil Code, while the parents are married they exercise custody jointly, and each may act alone in ordinary matters while significant decisions, including a change of the child's residence abroad, require both. Where the parents separate without divorcing, the court may, on application, assign custody to one of them for the period of separation under Article 336, paragraph 2, and may make interim orders on custody, contact, and maintenance under Article 169 while divorce proceedings are pending.
On divorce the court assigns custody under Article 182, and in the same judgment regulates the non-custodial parent's personal relationship with the child, kişisel ilişki, and the contribution each parent makes to the child's maintenance, iştirak nafakası. The court decides these matters of its own motion, whether or not the parties have asked, and in a consensual divorce under Article 166, paragraph 3, the court reviews and may alter the parents' agreement on custody and contact if it does not serve the child.
Under Article 337, where the parents are not married to each other, custody belongs to the mother by law from the child's birth. The father, once paternity is established by recognition or by judgment, may apply to the family court for custody to be transferred to him or shared, and the court decides on the best interests of the child. Where the mother is a minor, under guardianship, or deceased, or custody has been removed from her, the court may appoint a guardian or assign custody to the father.
The Civil Code as enacted in 2001 did not expressly provide for joint custody after divorce, and for many years the Court of Cassation held that custody must be assigned to one parent. That changed after Türkiye ratified the European Convention on the Legal Status of Children Born out of Wedlock, which entered into force for Türkiye in 2017 and whose Article 7 requires that parental authority may be exercised jointly, and the Second Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation held in 2017 that joint custody after divorce is not contrary to Turkish public policy and may be ordered where the parents agree and the arrangement serves the child. Joint custody after divorce is therefore available in Türkiye. It is not automatic and it is not the default, and it is not granted where the parents cannot cooperate, where they live in different countries without a workable plan for the child's residence and schooling, or where the practical arrangement would leave the child without a stable base; but it is regularly ordered where both parents are functional, communicate about the child, and present an arrangement that works for the child in practice.
The best interests of the child is a standard, not a formula, and the factors the Turkish family courts apply in practice are drawn from the case law of the Court of Cassation and from the expert reports the courts commission.
| Factor | How It Is Applied |
|---|---|
| The child's age and continuity of care | Very young children are generally placed with the primary carer, in practice often the mother, unless there is a reason not to; older children's established routine and attachments weigh heavily against disruption |
| School, language, and social environment | What the child would lose and gain if moved, including schooling, language of instruction, friendships, and extended family; relocation abroad is assessed against this baseline |
| Each parent's capacity and availability | Time actually available for the child, housing, health, support network, and parenting history, not merely income |
| The child's own view | Heard by the court or the expert, with weight increasing with age and maturity; the views of a child over about twelve carry substantial weight, those of a younger child are considered through the expert |
| Support for the relationship with the other parent | Whether the parent seeking custody will facilitate contact; a parent who has obstructed contact or removed the child is asking the court to trust an arrangement he or she has shown will not be honoured |
| Siblings | A strong presumption against separating siblings |
| Risk | Any history of violence, neglect, substance misuse, or a risk of removal from the jurisdiction |
Turkish family courts routinely commission reports from a panel of experts, typically a social worker, a psychologist, and a pedagogue, who interview both parents and the child, visit the homes, and report on the child's attachments, needs, and views and on each parent's capacity. These reports carry substantial weight and are frequently decisive, and the Court of Cassation reverses custody decisions made without one where the facts called for it. For a parent, engaging properly with that process, attending the interviews, presenting the home honestly, and allowing the child to speak freely, is usually more decisive than the legal argument, and a parent who coaches the child or obstructs the expert damages his or her own case.
In an international family the court additionally asks whether the proposed arrangement is realistic across the border: whether the non-custodial parent can in fact exercise contact from abroad, whether the custodial parent's proposed relocation serves the child or only the parent, whether the child has the language and ties to settle in the proposed country, and whether an order made in Türkiye will be enforceable where the child will live. A parent who proposes to take the child abroad should come to court with a concrete plan for schooling, housing, and contact, and with evidence that the destination country will recognise the Turkish order.
A standard contact order in a Turkish divorce, alternate weekends from Saturday morning to Sunday evening and a share of the religious holidays and summer, is meaningless when the parents live in different countries. Orders that work for international families are drafted for the actual geography of the family, and the family court will make such an order where the parties propose it or where the expert recommends it.
A workable order provides for longer blocks of contact during school holidays rather than frequent short visits; an agreed division of the summer, stated in weeks and dates or by a formula that can be applied without further negotiation; defined video contact, with the days, times, and duration stated so that a missed call is a breach and not a misunderstanding; a clear allocation of travel costs and of who accompanies the child on each journey, by age; the place and time of handover, and what happens if a flight is delayed; the documents each parent must provide for the child's travel, including the travel consent discussed in the next section; and the law and court to which the parents will return if the arrangement needs to be varied. Vague wording is the main reason cross border contact orders fail, not bad faith, and an order that leaves the detail to be agreed later invites the dispute it was meant to settle.
Under Article 323 of the Civil Code the right to a personal relationship belongs to the child as well as to the parent, and under Article 324 each parent is obliged to refrain from damaging the child's relationship with the other. A custodial parent who frustrates contact is in breach of this obligation, and persistent obstruction is itself a ground for varying custody, as explained in section 6.
Where custody is joint, or where an order restricts the child's travel, a child cannot be taken out of Türkiye without the other parent's consent. Where custody has been assigned to one parent alone, that parent may in principle travel with the child, but the border authorities and airlines frequently require evidence of the other parent's consent or of the custody order, and a travel restriction may have been annotated on the child's record at the request of the other parent. Consent is given by a notarised travel permission, muvafakatname, executed before a Turkish notary or a Turkish consulate, specifying the child, the destination, and the period. Where the other parent refuses consent, the custodial parent applies to the family court, which may grant permission for a specific trip or a general permission, and which looks at the purpose and length of the trip, the child's ties to Türkiye, the applicant's ties to the destination, and the risk of non-return, and may attach conditions such as a return date, a deposit, or an undertaking registered in the destination country.
A permanent move abroad with the child is a different question from a holiday, and a custodial parent who intends to relocate should apply to the court for permission or for a variation of the contact order before moving, since a move that frustrates the other parent's contact without the court's sanction is both a breach of Article 324 and, where custody is joint, a wrongful removal. The court assesses relocation against the factors in section 3, with particular attention to whether the move serves the child or only the parent and to how contact with the other parent will be maintained.
Removing a child from Türkiye in breach of the other parent's custody rights, or retaining the child abroad after an agreed visit, converts a family dispute into a return case under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, implemented in Türkiye by Law No. 5717, in which the court of the country where the child is found orders the child's prompt return to the country of habitual residence without deciding custody, subject to narrow exceptions. A parent who removes a child in this way starts the custody dispute from the worst possible position, with the court in both countries treating the removal as evidence against his or her capacity to support the child's relationship with the other parent, and in many cases with a criminal complaint in Türkiye under Article 234 of the Penal Code. An application for travel permission that is refused leaves a parent in a far better position than a removal that succeeds and is then reversed. See our guide to Hague Convention return cases for the procedure in Türkiye.
Custody is never permanently fixed. Under Article 183 of the Civil Code, where circumstances change materially after the judgment, the court may on the application of either parent vary the custody or the contact arrangement, and under Article 349 custody may be removed from a parent who is unable to exercise it or who seriously neglects the child. The changes that typically justify an application are a parent's relocation abroad, a material change in the child's needs, schooling, or health, contact being persistently obstructed, the child's own expressed wish as he or she grows older, or a risk to the child's welfare in the custodial home. What the court requires is evidence of the change and of its effect on the child, not dissatisfaction with the original decision, and a parent who applies without a changed circumstance is refused. The variation application is made to the family court of the child's residence, follows the same expert process as the original decision, and may be accompanied by a request for interim measures where the child's welfare requires immediate protection.
Until 2021 the delivery of a child under a custody order and the enforcement of contact were carried out through the enforcement offices under the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law, with enforcement officers, police, and the parents meeting at the child's door, a procedure widely criticised for its effect on children. Law No. 7343, which entered into force in November 2021, moved child delivery and contact enforcement out of the enforcement offices and into the judicial support and victim services directorates, adli destek ve mağdur hizmetleri müdürlükleri, established within the courthouses, under new Articles 41/A and following of the Child Protection Law, Law No. 5395. Under the new system a parent whose custody or contact order is not complied with applies to the directorate, which invites the other parent to comply voluntarily, and if that fails arranges the delivery of the child through specialist staff, in a child friendly environment, with the use of force as a last resort and never against the child. A parent who obstructs a contact order faces coercive measures under the Child Protection Law, including a disciplinary fine and, for persistent obstruction, up to three months' disciplinary imprisonment, and persistent obstruction is itself a ground for revisiting custody under Article 183. Where the obstructing parent is abroad, enforcement depends on the recognition of the Turkish order in that country, which is the subject of the next section.
A custody order made by a court abroad does not operate in Türkiye by itself. Under Articles 50 to 59 of the Code on Private International and Procedural Law, Law No. 5718, a foreign judgment on a matter of civil law, including custody, must be recognised by a Turkish court before it has the effect of a Turkish judgment, and where it has to be executed against a parent in Türkiye, for example to obtain delivery of the child or to enforce contact, it must be enforced through a decision of enforcement, tenfiz. The conditions are that the foreign judgment is final under its own law, that there is reciprocity between Türkiye and the country of the court, that the subject matter does not fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Turkish courts, that the judgment is not manifestly contrary to Turkish public policy, and that the defendant was properly summoned and represented. For custody judgments the public policy examination is confined to whether the foreign court applied the best interests standard in substance; the Turkish court does not re-decide custody. This is the same recognition and enforcement procedure that applies to a foreign divorce, and parents frequently discover the need for it at the worst possible moment, when the order is already being ignored and the child is already in Türkiye. A parent with a foreign custody order who has any connection to Türkiye should have it recognised in advance, while the other parent is cooperating, rather than after cooperation has ended. Conversely, a Turkish custody order that must be relied on abroad should be recognised in the destination country under its own rules, or under the 1996 Hague Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in Respect of Parental Responsibility, to which Türkiye is a party, which simplifies recognition between contracting states.
Yes. Custody is decided on the best interests of the child under Article 182 of the Civil Code, and the nationality of the parent is not a criterion. What matters is the child's stability, care, environment, the parent's capacity, and whether the arrangement supports the child's relationship with the other parent.
Yes, since the Court of Cassation's 2017 decisions following ratification of the European Convention on the Legal Status of Children Born out of Wedlock. It is not automatic and is not ordered where the parents cannot cooperate, but Turkish courts order it where it serves the child.
The mother, by law, under Article 337 of the Civil Code. The father, once paternity is established, may apply for custody to be transferred or shared.
Yes. The child is heard by the court or through the expert panel, and the weight given to the child's view increases with age and maturity; the view of a child over about twelve carries substantial weight.
Very. The reports of the social worker, psychologist, and pedagogue are frequently decisive, and the Court of Cassation reverses decisions made without one where the facts required it. Engaging properly with the experts matters more than legal argument.
Not without court permission. Where consent is refused you apply to the family court, which considers the purpose and length of the trip, the child's ties to Türkiye, and the risk of non-return, and may attach conditions. Taking the child without consent or permission risks a Hague Convention return case.
A notarised travel consent, executed before a Turkish notary or consulate, by which one parent permits the other, or a third person, to take the child abroad for a stated destination and period.
Only with the other parent's agreement or the court's permission where custody is joint or contact would be affected. Apply before moving; a move that frustrates contact without sanction is a breach and may be a wrongful removal.
You apply under the 1980 Hague Convention through the Turkish Central Authority for the child's return to Türkiye, and may file a criminal complaint under Article 234 of the Penal Code. The removal also weighs heavily against that parent in any later custody decision.
Yes, under Article 183 of the Civil Code, where circumstances change materially: relocation, a change in the child's needs, persistent obstruction of contact, or a risk to the child's welfare. The application must be supported by evidence of the change.
Through the judicial support and victim services directorate at the courthouse, which since Law No. 7343 handles child delivery and contact enforcement with specialist staff. The obstructing parent faces a disciplinary fine and, for persistent obstruction, disciplinary imprisonment, and the obstruction is a ground for varying custody.
Not automatically. It must be recognised in Türkiye under Articles 50 to 59 of Law No. 5718, and enforced where it has to be executed against a parent here. Have it recognised in advance rather than when it is already being ignored.
Under the destination country's own rules or, between contracting states, under the 1996 Hague Convention on parental responsibility, to which Türkiye is a party. The order should be drafted with that recognition in mind.
Yes. The court orders the non-custodial parent to contribute to the child's maintenance under Article 182, and the amount may be varied as the child's needs and the parents' means change.
The family court, aile mahkemesi, of the place where the child resides, or the court seised of the divorce. Where no family court exists in the district, the civil court of first instance sits as one.
They may propose an agreement, and in a consensual divorce the court will usually approve it, but the court reviews it against the child's best interests and may alter it. An agreement on contact across borders should be drafted with the detail described in section 4.
For an international family, Turkish custody law applies the same test it applies to every family, the best interests of the child, to a harder set of facts. The Civil Code's provisions on joint custody during marriage, assignment on divorce, the mother's custody of a child born outside marriage, and variation on changed circumstances are supplemented by the Court of Cassation's acceptance of joint custody after divorce, by the 1980 and 1996 Hague Conventions on abduction and parental responsibility, by the new enforcement system under Law No. 7343, and by the recognition procedure under Law No. 5718 for foreign orders. The parent who succeeds in a cross border custody case is usually the one who engages properly with the expert process, proposes a contact arrangement drafted for the family's real geography, obtains consent or court permission before travelling or relocating, and has any foreign order recognised in Türkiye before it is needed rather than after.
We act for foreign and Turkish parents in custody, contact, and relocation proceedings before the Turkish family courts, draft and enforce cross border contact arrangements, obtain travel permissions, handle Hague Convention return applications in both directions, and secure the recognition and enforcement of foreign custody orders in Türkiye. For advice on your family's position, our legal team can review the circumstances and set out the steps available under the current law.
See also: What to Do if a Father Refuses to Acknowledge a Child Born Out of Wedlock in Türkiye?.
