Who Manages a Turkish Estate While Foreign Heirs Are Abroad?

Where heirs live abroad and cannot immediately step in, Turkish law allows the estate (tereke) to be protected through interim measures such as sealing of assets and inventory, and in appropriate cases a court can appoint an estate representative to manage the estate until the heirs are identified and able to act. Heirs do not automatically lose their rights because they are abroad, but practical management of the estate in the interim usually requires one of these mechanisms rather than informal arrangements among family members.

Immediately after a death, there is often a gap between the moment the estate legally passes to the heirs and the moment the heirs are actually able to manage it, particularly where heirs live abroad, are unaware of the death, or are numerous and dispersed. Turkish inheritance law addresses this gap through protective measures aimed at preserving the estate's assets and, where necessary, appointing someone with authority to act on the estate's behalf until the heirs can properly organise themselves or complete the certificate of inheritance process.

The Turkish Civil Code's succession provisions govern protective measures for the estate, including the possibility of sealing assets to prevent unauthorised access and preparing a formal inventory of the estate's contents. Where circumstances warrant, the same framework allows for appointment of an estate representative (a tereke temsilcisi) with authority to manage and, where necessary, safeguard estate assets pending resolution of who the heirs are and how the estate should be distributed. Where the deceased or heirs have a foreign connection, international private law principles also inform how these Turkish protective measures interact with any parallel process abroad.

Turkish courts and, in the first instance, local administrative or notarial authorities can take protective steps over an estate where there is a risk that assets could be lost, damaged, or improperly accessed before the heirs are established, particularly in cases involving heirs abroad or heirs who cannot be immediately located. An estate representative, once appointed, typically reports to the court and is expected to act within the scope of authority granted, rather than exercising unlimited control over the estate.

A frequently discussed practical issue is how proactively these protective measures should be used in cases involving foreign heirs, given that delay in identifying and locating heirs abroad can leave an estate unmanaged for a meaningful period. Commentators generally agree that early use of protective measures, such as sealing and inventory, is preferable to waiting for the full certificate of inheritance process to conclude, particularly where the estate includes assets that require active management, such as a business or income-producing property.

An interested party (an heir, a family member, or in some cases a public authority that becomes aware of the death) can request protective measures or the appointment of an estate representative from the competent court, generally by showing a genuine risk to the estate's assets or a practical need for someone to act on the estate's behalf in the interim. The request should specify what measures or authority are actually needed given the nature of the estate's assets.

There is no single fixed deadline for requesting protective measures, but delay increases the risk that estate assets are lost, damaged, or disputed among potential heirs before formal administration begins, so prompt action is generally advisable once a need is identified.

The competent civil court at the place connected to the succession handles requests for protective measures and appointment of an estate representative. Local notarial or administrative authorities may be involved in the practical steps of sealing assets or preparing an inventory, acting under the court's authority.

• The death certificate, authenticated and translated if issued abroad.
• Documentation identifying the known or likely heirs and their whereabouts.
• Evidence supporting the need for protective measures (for example, evidence of a risk to specific assets).
• Any existing estate records (property deeds, account statements, business documentation) relevant to the requested measures.

A common misconception is that heirs abroad must simply wait passively until they can travel to Turkiye before anything can be done to protect the estate; protective measures and, where needed, an estate representative can be requested well before that. Another mistake is informal, ad hoc management of estate assets by a family member with no formal authority, which can create disputes among co-heirs and complicate the eventual formal distribution.

Can protective measures be requested before the certificate of inheritance is issued? Yes; these measures are specifically designed to address the period before heirship is formally established.

Does an estate representative replace the heirs' own rights? No. The representative manages the estate within a defined scope pending resolution, but does not extinguish the heirs' underlying rights.

Can a foreign heir request these measures from abroad? Yes, typically through a properly authenticated power of attorney authorising a representative to act in Turkiye.

What happens to jointly held estate assets during this period? Until formal partition, estate assets are generally held under joint ownership among the heirs, and protective measures aim to preserve them until that partition or an agreed arrangement is completed.

We assess quickly whether protective measures or an estate representative are warranted in cases involving foreign heirs, since the gap between death and active heir involvement is often where avoidable losses or disputes occur. Acting early in this phase generally makes the rest of the inheritance process considerably smoother.