When navigating the legal landscape of inheritance in Turkey, foreign nationals and expatriates frequently receive an inheritance certificate showing a specific number of shares, and search for exactly what that number means, phrases such as veraset ilamında 3 pay, or the equivalent with 2, 4, 6, or another figure. This guide explains what is actually happening behind that number: rather than being a fixed legal category tied to the specific figure itself, the number of shares shown on any given certificate is the direct, calculable result of the Turkish Civil Code's rules on legal heirship applied to that specific family's circumstances.
Quick Answer: The number of shares, pay, shown on a Turkish inheritance certificate, veraset ilamı, is not a fixed legal term with a set meaning; it is simply the outcome of applying the Turkish Civil Code's class based, zümre, system of legal heirship to the specific deceased person's surviving family. A certificate might show two shares, three shares, six shares, or any other number, depending on how many heirs survive, which class of relatives they belong to, whether a spouse survives alongside them at a different fixed fraction, and whether any heir who would otherwise have inherited died before the deceased, in which case that person's own descendants step into their place. Seeing three pay on a certificate simply means three shares were calculated for that specific estate, based on that family's actual composition, not that three pay is a special rule that applies generally.
The inheritance certificate, known as veraset ilamı in Turkish, and also referred to as a mirasçılık belgesi, is a legal document that identifies the rightful heirs to a deceased person's estate and sets out their respective shares. This certificate is issued either by a Turkish civil court, specifically the Sulh Hukuk Mahkemesi, or, in straightforward cases involving only Turkish citizens, by a notary, and it serves as formal, authoritative recognition of each named person's entitlement to a portion of the deceased's estate.
It is an essential step for executing the inheritance process, including the transfer of ownership for assets such as real estate, vehicles, and bank accounts. For the procedural side of actually obtaining this document, see our guide on obtaining a certificate of inheritance in Turkey.
It is worth being direct about a common misconception. A phrase like veraset ilamında 3 pay, three shares on the inheritance certificate, is often searched as though it refers to a specific, named legal rule, similar to searching for a defined statutory term. In fact, the number of shares recorded on a specific certificate is simply the mathematical output of applying the general rules described in section 3 below to that particular family's circumstances. A different family, with a different number and mix of surviving relatives, would produce a different number of shares entirely, whether two, four, six, or any other figure. Understanding the underlying rules that produce this number is considerably more useful than searching for the specific number itself, since the same number can arise from very different family situations, and the same family situation in a different generation could just as easily produce a different number.
Where the deceased left no will, or left a will that a court has not yet confirmed, the distribution of the estate is governed by the legal heirship provisions of the Turkish Civil Code, Articles 495 through 501, built around what is known as the class, zümre, system.
Under this system, the deceased's descendants, children and, through representation, grandchildren, form the first class and inherit ahead of everyone else. Where no descendant survives, the second class, the deceased's parents and, through representation, the deceased's siblings, inherit instead. Where no one from either the first or second class survives, the third class, the deceased's grandparents and their own descendants, inherit. A more distant class only inherits where absolutely no one from a closer class has survived; the presence of even a single heir in a closer class entirely excludes every member of a more distant class.
A surviving spouse is not treated as a member of any of these three classes, since a spouse is not a blood relative of the deceased, but a surviving spouse always inherits alongside whichever class is entitled to inherit, at a fraction that depends specifically on which class that is. Where the spouse inherits alongside the first class, descendants, the spouse receives one quarter of the estate, with the remaining three quarters divided among the descendants. Where the spouse inherits alongside the second class, parents or their descendants, the spouse receives one half of the estate. Where the spouse inherits alongside the third class, grandparents or their descendants, or where no blood relative in any class survives at all, the spouse receives three quarters of the estate, and where absolutely no other heir exists in any class, the spouse receives the entire estate.
The table below summarises this fixed relationship.
| Class Inheriting Alongside the Spouse | Spouse's Share | Remaining Share for That Class |
|---|---|---|
| First class (descendants) | One quarter | Three quarters, divided among descendants |
| Second class (parents and their descendants) | One half | One half, divided among that class |
| Third class (grandparents and their descendants) | Three quarters | One quarter, divided among that class |
| No other heir in any class | Entire estate | Not applicable |
Where an heir who would otherwise have inherited, for example one of the deceased's children, died before the deceased, that heir's own share does not simply disappear or get redistributed evenly among the survivors; instead, it passes down to that heir's own descendants in equal parts among them, a principle known as representation, temsil or halefiyet. This is precisely the mechanism that most often produces a certificate showing an unusual mix of share sizes, since a predeceased heir's children collectively inherit only the share their parent would have received, divided among however many of them there are, rather than each receiving a full, equal share alongside their aunts, uncles, or cousins.
Where the deceased left a valid will, the distribution can depart from the shares described above, but only within limits. Turkish law protects certain heirs, specifically descendants, parents, and the surviving spouse, with a reserved share, saklı pay, that a will cannot reduce below a set fraction of what that heir would otherwise have received under the legal heirship rules. Under Article 506 of the Civil Code, a descendant's reserved share is one half of their statutory share, a parent's reserved share is one quarter of their statutory share, and a spouse's reserved share is either the full statutory share, where the spouse inherits alongside the first or second class, or three quarters of the statutory share, where the spouse inherits alongside the third class or alone. These reserved portions are central to protecting your estate under Turkish inheritance law, and they are precisely why a will cannot simply override the class and representation rules described above to produce an arbitrary distribution.
The examples below illustrate how the same underlying rules produce different numbers of shares depending on the family's actual composition.
Where the deceased had three children, no surviving spouse, and all three children are alive, each child inherits one third of the estate, and the certificate records three equal shares of one third each. This is the simplest scenario that produces the specific three pay figure many searches are aimed at, but it is only one of many possible paths to that same number.
Where the deceased had two children and a surviving spouse, the spouse receives one quarter of the estate under the rule described in section 3.2 above, and the remaining three quarters is divided equally between the two children, each receiving three eighths. This also produces a certificate with three named shares, but the shares are not equal to one another, illustrating why the number of shares alone does not tell the full story without also knowing the underlying fractions.
Where the deceased had three children, one of whom died before the deceased and left two children of their own, the estate is still divided into three equal one third portions at the level of the deceased's own children, but the predeceased child's one third share is then divided equally between that child's two children, meaning the final certificate shows four named heirs: two surviving children each with one third, and two grandchildren each with one sixth.
Where the deceased had no children and no surviving spouse, but both parents are alive, each parent inherits one half of the estate, producing a certificate with two equal shares. Where only one parent survives and the deceased had a sibling, the surviving parent inherits their own share plus, through representation, the share that would have gone to the deceased's other parent is divided among that parent's own descendants, which can include the deceased's sibling, producing a more complex mix of shares.
When reviewing your own certificate, the number of shares listed is far less important on its own than confirming three things: which class of heirship the distribution reflects, whether a surviving spouse's fixed fraction has been correctly applied, and whether any listed heir is inheriting through representation on behalf of a parent who died before the deceased. Cross checking the fractions shown against the rules described in section 3 above, ideally with legal assistance where the family structure is at all complex, is the most reliable way to confirm the certificate accurately reflects the law rather than simply accepting the total number of named heirs at face value.
For foreigners with interests in the Turkish legal system, particularly those involved in inheritance matters, understanding how the number and size of shares on a veraset ilamı is actually derived is considerably more useful than searching for a specific figure as though it were a defined term. This is especially true where the family in question includes members with a different nationality than the deceased, since questions can arise about whether Turkish law or a foreign personal law governs the succession for certain categories of asset, a question that should be assessed separately from, and before, any detailed calculation of shares under the Turkish system.
As a general matter, Turkish private international law tends to apply the law of the deceased's own nationality to movable property, such as bank accounts and personal belongings, while real estate located in Türkiye is generally governed by Turkish law regardless of the deceased's nationality. This means a foreign national's estate can, in practice, be split across two different legal regimes at once, with a Turkish veraset ilamı addressing the Turkish real estate specifically, while a separate process in the deceased's home country addresses movable assets there. Foreign heirs should confirm which regime applies to which specific asset early in the process, rather than assuming the Turkish certificate alone resolves the entire estate.
It is also important for foreign heirs to seek legal advice from professionals familiar with both Turkish law and the legal practices of their own country, to avoid complications that can arise from applying assumptions drawn from a different legal system, such as one where spouses or children inherit in fixed proportions that differ meaningfully from the Turkish class based approach described above.
Once the veraset ilamı has been issued and the shares are confirmed, the next step is generally transferring the inherited assets into each heir's own name, whether that involves real estate, bank accounts, vehicles, or other property. Our guide on transferring inherited assets in Turkey covers this process in detail, including the specific steps that apply to different categories of asset.
It means that, in this specific case, the estate was calculated to be divided into three shares under the applicable Turkish Civil Code rules, most commonly because three heirs of equal standing survived, though it can also arise from other combinations involving a surviving spouse or representation.
No. Where a surviving spouse is one of the three, or where representation applies because an heir predeceased the deceased, the three shares recorded can be unequal in size even though there are three of them.
It depends on which class of relatives the spouse inherits alongside: one quarter with the first class, descendants, one half with the second class, parents, and three quarters with the third class, grandparents, or where no other heir survives, the entire estate.
It is the Turkish Civil Code's structure for legal heirship, dividing relatives into three successive classes, descendants, then parents and their descendants, then grandparents and their descendants, where a closer class fully excludes a more distant one from inheriting.
That child's share passes to their own children in equal parts, a principle called representation, rather than being redistributed evenly among the deceased's other surviving children.
Yes, within limits. A will can redistribute the estate differently from the default legal heirship rules, but it cannot reduce a protected heir's reserved share, saklı pay, below the minimum fraction set by law.
It is the minimum portion of the estate that certain heirs, descendants, parents, and the surviving spouse, are guaranteed to receive regardless of what a will says, calculated as a fraction of what they would have received under the ordinary legal heirship rules.
Either the Sulh Hukuk Mahkemesi, the Civil Court of Peace, or, for straightforward cases involving only Turkish citizens, a notary.
Yes, but only as part of the second class, and only where they are stepping into the place of a deceased parent through representation, and only where no descendant of the deceased survives at all.
Generally yes, since each named heir typically receives their own listed share, though the size of those shares can differ significantly between heirs depending on the rules described in section 3 above.
Not always automatically for every category of asset; this is a separate question that should be assessed before relying on the Turkish share calculation, particularly where the deceased was a foreign national with assets or heirs connected to more than one country.
Confirm which class of heirship the distribution reflects, whether a surviving spouse's share was applied correctly, and whether any heir is inheriting through representation, rather than simply accepting the total number of shares at face value.
Generally Turkish law applies to real estate located in Türkiye regardless of the deceased's nationality, even where the deceased's other, movable assets elsewhere are governed by the law of their own nationality.
Yes, where their own parent, one of the deceased's children, died before the deceased; the grandchildren then inherit that parent's share through representation, divided equally among themselves, alongside their surviving aunts and uncles who each hold their own full share.
A phrase like veraset ilamında 3 pay is not a fixed legal category with a single meaning; it is the visible result of applying Turkey's class based system of legal heirship, the surviving spouse's variable share, and the principle of representation to one specific family's circumstances. Understanding these underlying rules, rather than searching for the meaning of a particular number in isolation, is what genuinely allows an heir, Turkish or foreign, to understand and, where necessary, verify their own inheritance certificate.
Bayraktar Attorneys, with its specialisation in the Turkish legal system and its commitment to assisting foreign nationals, is ready to help you understand and verify your own inheritance certificate, and to guide you through every subsequent step of the inheritance process in Türkiye. Contact our team today to discuss your specific situation.
