Bayraktar Attorneys represents international clients across the whole of family life in Turkiye — marrying here, formalising and registering a marriage, agreeing a property regime, and, where it comes to that, divorce, custody, alimony and the division of marital assets.
You receive clear advice and steady representation from lawyers who work in English every day, and who are used to files that touch two legal systems at once.
Talk to an English-speaking family lawyer today. The conversation is confidential and there is no obligation.
A family matter is difficult anywhere. It is harder still in a country whose legal system and language are not your own. Our practice is built around foreign nationals, dual citizens and expatriates who need dependable guidance under Turkish family law.
Perhaps you are marrying a Turkish citizen, living here on a residence permit, or dealing with children and property in more than one country. Whatever the situation, we handle the matter from start to finish. We plan the strategy, prepare the paperwork, represent you in court and see the decision enforced. We work in English and treat every case in confidence.
Marriage in Turkiye is a civil act. Only a marriage celebrated before an authorised civil registrar — in practice the marriage office of a municipality, or a competent consulate — creates legal status; a religious ceremony alone does not. The documentary side is where foreign couples lose the most time, and it is the part we take off your hands.
For a step-by-step account of the procedure itself, including who may marry and what the ceremony involves, see our guide to marriage in Turkiye for foreigners. What follows is what we do for you.
Each foreign spouse must show that their own law permits the marriage, by producing a certificate of capacity to marry (*evlenme ehliyet belgesi*) issued by their consulate or home authority. Alongside it the registrar will expect passports, birth records, photographs, a health report, and proof that any earlier marriage has ended.
Foreign documents generally need an apostille or consular legalisation and a sworn Turkish translation — see apostille and e-apostille in Turkiye. We assemble the file, check it against the requirements of the specific registrar, and correct problems before they cause a refusal.
A marriage between two foreigners of the same nationality may be celebrated at their consulate in Turkiye if that state permits it; otherwise, and in every mixed marriage involving a Turkish citizen, the ceremony takes place before a Turkish civil registrar. The choice affects which records the marriage lands in, and therefore how it must later be proved.
Couples who are in Turkiye on a short stay should take advice before booking a date: the file has to be complete and current at the ceremony, and some supporting documents have limited validity.
After the ceremony you receive the family book (*aile cüzdanı*), and an international marriage certificate can be obtained for use abroad. We arrange certified copies, apostilles and translations, and handle registration of the marriage with your own consulate so it is recognised in your home country.
The reverse case is just as common: a marriage celebrated abroad has to be reported to the Turkish civil registry before it shows up in Turkish records, which matters for residence permits, inheritance and any later divorce. We handle that registration for clients who married outside Turkiye.
A Turkish court has jurisdiction over your divorce when either spouse lives in Turkiye. As a rule it applies the law that both spouses share by nationality. Where they share none, Turkish law governs. Because the applicable law can change the outcome on property and support, it is worth taking advice before you file.
The Turkish Civil Code recognises both specific grounds — such as adultery, cruelty or desertion — and the general ground of irretrievable breakdown. Our note on grounds for divorce under Turkish law sets them out.
An uncontested divorce is possible when both spouses agree on every term — custody, alimony and the division of property — and the marriage has lasted at least one year. It is quicker and less adversarial, and it usually concludes within one to three months; see the amicable divorce petition process.
A contested divorce becomes necessary when the spouses cannot agree on the grounds or the terms. It calls for evidence, and depending on how far apart the parties stand, it can take one to three years.
A marriage that crosses borders raises further questions. Which country's courts should hear the case, which law applies, and how are assets held abroad to be treated? We plan the approach with these points in mind, so that you file in the forum that serves you best and avoid parallel proceedings in two countries.
Where property is involved, read real estate in Turkiye when foreigners divorce.
A divorce you obtained abroad does not take effect in Turkiye on its own. Before your Turkish civil records can be updated, and before any payment order can be collected here, the judgment has to be recognised and, where it orders payment, enforced by a Turkish court. We carry this procedure through for you, including the translation and legalisation of your documents — see registering foreign divorce decisions in Turkiye.
Practical consequences follow from the decree itself. Whether a former wife may keep using her husband's surname, for example, is decided by the court on request — see using an ex-husband's surname after divorce.
Not every marriage that ends is dissolved by divorce. Where a legal impediment existed at the time of the ceremony — an existing marriage, a prohibited degree of relationship, lack of capacity, or consent obtained by mistake, fraud or duress — the marriage may be annulled rather than divorced, and some defects make it absolutely void.
The distinction matters, because annulment and divorce lead to different outcomes on property, surname and legitimacy of children, and because several annulment grounds are subject to short time limits. We assess which route applies and act quickly where a deadline is running. The grounds and the procedure are set out in detail in our guide to marriage annulment in Turkiye.
When a court decides custody, one consideration outweighs the rest: the welfare of the child. The judge looks at the child's age, the strength of each bond, the stability each parent can offer and the practical ability to provide care. Custody may go to one parent while the other keeps the right to a personal relationship — that is, contact and visitation.
Foreign parents stand on equal footing with Turkish parents. Your nationality does not decide the question of custody. Our task is to present your case clearly and with proper evidence, and to protect your relationship with your child. Where you live outside Turkiye, we also arrange visitation terms that work in practice.
Travel is a recurring flashpoint: taking a child abroad generally requires the other parent's consent — see consent for a joint child's exit from Turkiye.
Turkiye is a party to the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. If a child has been wrongfully brought to Turkiye or kept here, we can bring return proceedings and represent you in this specialised process, acting promptly to preserve the child's stability.
Turkish law provides for several forms of support. There is interim support while the case is pending, spousal support after the divorce for a spouse who would otherwise face hardship, and child support toward a child's upbringing. The court sets each amount according to the parties' means and needs, and it can revise the figure later if circumstances change — see alimony increase lawsuits.
Where an award goes unpaid, it is enforced through execution proceedings; our guide to collecting accumulated alimony explains how.
Under the default regime of the Turkish Civil Code, spouses divide the property acquired during the marriage, while assets owned before the marriage generally stay separate. Identifying and valuing those assets correctly, from real estate to shares in a company, is often the part of a divorce with the greatest financial weight. It is also where experienced representation counts for the most.
Fault can shape the outcome on compensation and support — see severe faults in Turkish divorce cases. Divorce can affect inheritance rights as well; if an estate is involved, see our inheritance law services.
Unless the spouses agree otherwise, the participation in acquired property regime applies automatically from the date of the marriage. It is a sensible default for many couples, but it is not the right answer for everyone — particularly where one spouse brings a business into the marriage, or where assets sit in several countries under different rules.
Couples may set the default aside by signing a marital property agreement in the form the law requires, either before the wedding or at any time during the marriage. We advise on which of the statutory regimes fits your circumstances, draft agreements that are clear and enforceable, and coordinate with your advisers abroad so a Turkish agreement and a foreign one do not contradict each other. Our guide to prenuptial agreements in Turkiye includes a sample contract.
Marriage to a Turkish citizen changes your immigration position but does not, by itself, make you Turkish. It opens a family residence permit, and — after a qualifying period of marriage that must still be subsisting, with the union genuinely lived together — a separate application for citizenship that is assessed on its own merits and is frequently investigated.
These applications are run by our immigration team, and the detail lives on the pages that cover them: residence permit and citizenship by marriage, the family residence permit, and our residence permit and Turkish citizenship services. Where a marriage ends while a citizenship file is open, the two matters have to be handled together — that is exactly the kind of case this team is built for.
We review your situation, explain the applicable law, and outline realistic options and timelines.
We gather and prepare the required documents, including translations and legalisation (apostille) where needed.
We file the case in the correct court, or lodge the marriage file with the correct registrar, and represent you throughout — so you needn't attend every hearing.
We pursue a favourable settlement where possible, or advocate firmly for you at trial where necessary.
We finalise the decision, update civil records, and enforce support or property orders.
We work daily with expats, dual citizens and international families, in English.
We handle filings, hearings and enforcement so you can stay abroad if needed.
Confidential handling with clear, upfront communication on cost and timeline.
Marriage recognition, foreign decrees, Hague cases and multi-country assets.
Atty. Nevzat Oğulcan Bayraktar
Confidential, English-speaking legal support across Turkey.
This page provides general information about family and marriage law in Turkey and does not constitute legal advice. For guidance on your specific situation, please contact Bayraktar Attorneys for a consultation.
