What Is a Veraset Ilami and How Do You Get One?

September 2, 2026 · Inheritance Law · 5 min read · Legal252 Editorial Team

A certificate of inheritance — a veraset ilami, also called mirasçılık belgesi in Turkish — is the official document confirming who the legal heirs of a deceased person are and what share of the estate each is entitled to — and for most estates involving a Turkish property, it is the document that unlocks everything else, from transferring the title deed to accessing a bank account.

Veraset Ilami: What a Certificate of Inheritance Actually Confirms

A certificate of inheritance formally establishes, in a document a bank, the Land Registry or any other institution will recognise, exactly who the deceased's legal heirs are and their respective shares of the estate under the applicable succession rules. Without this document, heirs generally cannot complete the practical steps of inheriting — no institution will simply take an heir's word for their entitlement without this formal confirmation.

Who Issues a Certificate of Inheritance

For straightforward cases involving only Turkish citizens, a notary can generally issue a certificate of inheritance directly, which is often faster than going through court. However, where a foreign element is involved — a foreign heir, a deceased foreign national, or other cross-border complexity — the process generally needs to go through a Turkish civil court instead of a notary, since notaries are generally not authorised to resolve the additional legal questions a foreign element can raise.

Why the Process Differs for Foreign Heirs

The court route required whenever a foreign element is present exists because determining heirs in a cross-border situation can involve questions of foreign law, foreign civil status documents, and issues a notary's more limited, administrative role isn't designed to resolve. This generally makes the process for foreign heirs somewhat longer than the notary route available to a purely domestic Turkish estate, which is worth planning for rather than being surprised by.

Documents You'll Generally Need

Beyond the death certificate itself, a certificate of inheritance application generally requires documentation establishing the family relationships between the deceased and the claimed heirs — marriage and birth records, for instance — properly translated and legalised where they originate from another country. Incomplete or improperly legalised foreign documents are one of the most common reasons this process takes longer than expected.

What the Certificate Is Actually Used For

Once issued, a certificate of inheritance is the document heirs present to the Land Registry to transfer a property into their names, to banks to access the deceased's accounts, and generally to any institution that needs formal proof of who inherited what. Without it, an heir's practical ability to actually access or transfer inherited Turkish assets is severely limited, regardless of how clear the family situation may seem informally.

Local Context

Given Fethiye's substantial long-term foreign resident population, a meaningful share of the certificate of inheritance cases we see involve exactly this cross-border pattern — a foreign property owner, foreign heirs, and family documents originating from more than one country — which is precisely the scenario that requires the court route rather than a simple notary application.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you need to obtain a certificate of inheritance for a Turkish estate, get in touch — see our Inheritance Law page for the full scope of what we help with.

This article is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice; the correct process depends on the specific heirs, nationalities and documentation involved and should be reviewed individually.