Family law

Agreed divorce

An agreed divorce (anlaşmalı boşanma) needs a marriage of at least one year and a joint application, or one spouse accepting the other’s suit; the marriage is then deemed to have broken down. The judge must hear both spouses in person, be satisfied that each acts freely, and approve their arrangement on money and the children. The judge may amend it, and grants the divorce once both accept the changes (Civil Code, TMK art. 166/3).

1. Sign a protocol on custody, contact, child maintenance, any spousal maintenance or compensation, and property. It is valid only once the judge approves it (art. 184/5).
2. File the joint petition at the family court competent under art. 168; Turkish citizens abroad can use the courts in MÖHUK art. 41.
3. Attend the hearing in person, both of you (art. 166/3).

A worked example (hypothetical). Elif and Can, both Turkish citizens living in London, married on 3 May 2025 and agree on everything.

• 3 May 2026. The marriage has lasted one year, so an agreed divorce is now possible (TMK art. 166/3).
• 15 June 2026. They file a joint petition with their protocol. Neither lives in Türkiye, so the case goes to the court of their last Turkish domicile or, failing one, to Ankara, İstanbul or İzmir (MÖHUK art. 41). Their property regime ends that day (TMK art. 225/2).
• The hearing. Both attend. The judge checks their free will and the protocol, and grants the divorce (art. 166/3).
• The judgment becomes final. Any remaining claim arising from the divorce must be brought within one year (art. 178).

Contested divorce and the grounds

Without agreement, a spouse must prove a ground set out in the Civil Code. The general ground is a breakdown so deep that the spouses cannot be expected to go on living together (TMK art. 166/1). A defendant who is less at fault may object, unless the objection is an abuse of right and the marriage no longer protects any interest of the defendant or the children (art. 166/2).

• Court. The family court (aile mahkemesi) at either spouse’s domicile, or where they last lived together for six months (art. 168); where there is no family court, a designated civil court of first instance (Law 4787 art. 2).
• Interim measures. Once the case is filed, the judge orders on their own motion what is needed for housing, maintenance, the management of property and the care of the children (art. 169).
• Proof. Admissions do not bind the judge and no oath may be offered; a party may ask for a private hearing (art. 184).
• Mediation is not a precondition of a divorce suit (Law 6325 art. 18/B), and disputes involving allegations of domestic violence are not suitable for it (art. 1/2).

After any divorce, the former spouses no longer inherit from each other (TMK art. 181; see inheritance), and a woman may remarry only 300 days after the marriage ended, unless she gives birth or the court lifts the wait (art. 132).

Divorce for adultery

Adultery is a ground of its own: the right to sue lapses six months after the wronged spouse learns of it and five years after the act, and a spouse who has forgiven cannot sue on it (TMK art. 161). The general ground of breakdown has no time limit of its own (art. 166/1); whether time-barred or forgiven facts can count there is a matter of case law.

The spouse at fault can be ordered to pay material compensation to a spouse who is faultless or less at fault, and moral compensation for an attack on personality rights (art. 174). In a divorce for adultery or attempt on life, the judge may also reduce or remove the guilty spouse’s share of the other’s net acquired property (art. 236/2).

Custody and contact

Both parents hold custody (velayet) of a minor child, and it cannot be taken away without a legal ground (TMK art. 335). On divorce it belongs to the parent with whom the child is placed (art. 336); if the parents are not married, to the mother (art. 337). The divorce court hears the parents where possible and decides custody and contact (kişisel ilişki) (art. 182/1). Contact is arranged around the child’s interests, especially health, education and moral development, and the parent without custody contributes to the child’s costs according to their means (art. 182/3). In important matters parents take the child’s views into account, as far as the child’s maturity allows (art. 339).

• Contact must be honoured. Since 2021 the judgment warns that a parent with custody who does not comply with the contact arrangements may lose custody, unless the change is against the child’s interests (art. 182/2, 324/3).
• New facts. If a parent remarries, moves away or dies, the judge takes the necessary measures (art. 183). Remarriage alone does not end custody (art. 349).
• Removal. If other protective measures fail, the judge removes custody from a parent who cannot exercise it properly or seriously neglects the child (art. 348).
• Court and law. For contact, the court where the child lives is also competent (art. 326). With a foreign element, custody on divorce follows the law that governs the divorce (MÖHUK art. 14/3).

Maintenance

• Interim maintenance (tedbir nafakası). The judge sets it on their own motion once a divorce case is filed (TMK art. 169), under Turkish law even where a foreign law governs the divorce (MÖHUK art. 14/4). A spouse with good reason to live apart can ask for a contribution without suing (TMK art. 197), and a protection order can include it even if nobody asked for it (Law 6284 art. 5/4).
• Poverty maintenance (yoksulluk nafakası). A spouse who would fall into poverty through the divorce, and whose fault is not heavier, can claim it in proportion to the other’s means; the payer’s fault does not matter (TMK art. 175). The Code still says ‘indefinitely’, but the Constitutional Court annulled that word with effect from 30 June 2027 (decision of 4 June 2026, E.2025/156, K.2026/131). No replacement had been enacted by 24 October 2026.
• Child maintenance (iştirak nafakası). Parents bear the child’s costs until the child comes of age, and beyond that while the child is in education, as far as can be expected (art. 327–328). The parent caring for the child sues the other on the child’s behalf; the amount reflects the child’s needs and both parents’ means and is paid monthly in advance (art. 329–330).

Spousal maintenance paid as an income ends on the recipient’s remarriage or either party’s death, and by court order if the recipient lives as if married, is no longer in poverty or leads a dishonourable life. Any maintenance can be raised or lowered when circumstances change (art. 176, 331). Post-divorce claims are filed at the recipient’s domicile (art. 177).

Sharing property on divorce

The default regime is participation in acquired property (edinilmiş mallara katılma); another can be chosen by a notarial contract, or by a written declaration when applying to marry (TMK art. 202, 205). Acquired property is what a spouse obtains for value during the regime, such as earnings, social-security payments and income from personal property (art. 219). Personal property stays outside: personal-use items, what a spouse owned at the start or later inherited or received for nothing, and moral-compensation claims (art. 220). All of a spouse’s property counts as acquired until the contrary is proved (art. 222).

1. Cut-off. The regime ends on the day the divorce case was filed (art. 225/2).
2. Net surplus. Each spouse’s acquired property, at its value at liquidation, minus the debts on it; a negative result is ignored (art. 231, 235). Gifts made without consent in the year before the regime ended, beyond customary presents, and transfers aimed at cutting the other’s share are added back (art. 229).
3. Half each. Each spouse is entitled to half of the other’s net surplus, and the two claims are set off (art. 236/1). A spouse who helped acquire or improve the other’s property without fair return also has a value-increase claim (art. 227).
4. Payment. In kind or in money; a debtor facing serious difficulty may ask for time (art. 239).

• The family home. Neither spouse may transfer it, end its lease or limit rights over it without the other’s explicit consent; the spouse who does not own it can have the title annotated (art. 194).
• Marriages before 2002. The spouses’ earlier regime continues for the period before 1 January 2002; the statutory regime applies from that date unless they chose otherwise within a year (Law 4722 art. 10).
• Time bars. Claims arising from the divorce lapse one year after the judgment becomes final; which claims this covers, property claims in particular, is a matter of case law (art. 178).

Paternity

A child’s tie to the mother arises from birth; the tie to the father, from marriage to the mother, recognition or a court judgment (TMK art. 282). A husband is presumed to be the father of a child born during the marriage or within 300 days after it ends (art. 285).

• Recognition (tanıma). The father recognises the child by a written application to the registrar or the court, or by a declaration in an official deed or a will; not while the child has another legal father (art. 295).
• Paternity suit (babalık davası). The mother or the child sues the father or, if he has died, his heirs (art. 301), at either party’s domicile when suing or at the birth (art. 283).
• Evidence. The judge investigates on their own motion; parties and third parties must accept safe examinations needed to establish parentage, and a defendant’s refusal can count against him (art. 284). Intercourse with the mother between the 300th and the 180th day before the birth raises a rebuttable presumption of paternity (art. 302).
• Time limits. The mother must sue within one year of the birth, or of the end of another man’s legal paternity of the child; a justified delay allows one month after its cause ends (art. 303). The article sets no time limit for the child: the Constitutional Court annulled its second paragraph (27 October 2011, E.2010/71, K.2011/143) and its last paragraph as regards the child (15 March 2012, E.2011/116, K.2012/39).
• Money. The mother can claim the costs of the birth, her living costs for six weeks before and after it, and other costs of pregnancy (art. 304). If maintenance is claimed with the suit and paternity is strongly likely, the judge may order it before judgment (art. 333).

Couples living in the UK

• Marriage abroad. A Turkish citizen’s marriage before a foreign authority is valid if it meets the Civil Code’s conditions, and must be notified to the Turkish consulate within 30 days (Law 5490 art. 24). For a foreign spouse’s residence permit, see immigration and residence.
• Which law. A Turkish court applies the spouses’ common national law to the divorce, maintenance after it and custody; if their nationalities differ, the law of their common habitual residence; otherwise Turkish law. A dual national who is also a Turkish citizen counts as Turkish (MÖHUK art. 4, 14).
• Property. If the spouses did not choose the law of their habitual residence or of either nationality, the law of their common nationality applies, then that of their common habitual residence at the time of marriage, and otherwise Turkish law. Real estate is liquidated under the law of the country where it lies (MÖHUK art. 15).

A divorce granted in the UK

Turkish authorities act on a foreign divorce only once it is registered or a Turkish court has recognised it (Law 5490 art. 27/A; MÖHUK art. 58). Its orders, such as on maintenance, can be carried out only after a separate enforcement (tenfiz) case (MÖHUK art. 50).

Registration turns on a joint application, not an agreed divorce, so a contested UK divorce qualifies if both former spouses apply. The note of 13 January 2023 from the Consulate General in London adds the following (check the current version):

• Apply in person by appointment through konsolosluk.gov.tr, with the apostilled final order (final order or decree absolute), which needs no translation. Joint applicants may attend up to 90 days apart. A proxy needs a notarised power of attorney with a photograph, apostilled if made abroad.
• Only UK decisions are registered there, and none where a Turkish court case about the divorce exists or existed. Dual nationality must first be entered in the Turkish register.
• The Turkish spouse alone is accepted only if the foreign former spouse cannot be found, refuses or avoids applying, or a deceased spouse’s heirs cannot be identified.

For the court route:

1. Get certified copies. The UK judgment and proof that it is final, each duly certified, with certified Turkish translations (MÖHUK art. 53).
2. File the petition. You, or a representative holding your power of attorney, file it at the family court (art. 51–52).
3. The hearing. The other side can object only that the conditions are not met, or that the judgment has been performed or can no longer be performed (art. 55).
4. The effect. Once recognised, the judgment counts as final from the date it became final in the UK (art. 59).

Protection orders

Law 6284 protects women, children and family members who face violence, and victims of persistent stalking (art. 1). The person at risk, the Ministry, the police or a prosecutor can ask the nearest judge, governor’s office (mülkî amir) or police unit for an order (art. 8/1).

• Evidence and speed. No evidence or document of violence is needed for a protective measure, and a preventive measure must be ordered without delay (art. 8/3).
• Urgent cases. Shelter or temporary protection given by the police lapses unless the governor approves it within 48 hours (art. 3/2). Police orders to stop threats, leave the home and keep away from the protected person, their relatives, witnesses and children lapse unless a judge approves them within 24 hours (art. 5/2).
• Children and money. The judge may also decide custody, contact and maintenance, including interim maintenance nobody asked for (art. 5/3–4).
• Duration and objection. A first order lasts up to six months and can be extended, and the protected person’s address can be kept confidential (art. 8/2, 8/6). An objection goes to the family court within two weeks of pronouncement or service; the decision on it is final (art. 9).
• Breach. Coercive imprisonment of three to ten days, then 15 to 30 days for each repetition, up to six months in total (art. 13).

Deadlines in one place

Mistakes that cost spouses their options

• Waiting after discovering adultery. The ground lapses six months after you learn of it, and forgiving it ends the right (TMK art. 161).
• Moving assets before the case. Gifts made without consent in the year before, and transfers aimed at cutting the other spouse’s share, are added back (art. 229); the family home cannot be transferred without explicit consent (art. 194).
• Missing the one-year bar. Claims arising from the divorce lapse one year after the judgment becomes final (art. 178).
• Treating a UK divorce as enough. It needs registration or recognition, and orders on children and money need enforcement (Law 5490 art. 27/A; MÖHUK art. 50, 58).
• Ignoring the contact schedule. A parent with custody who does not honour it can lose custody (TMK art. 182/2, 324/3).

Documents to prepare

• Identity cards or passports, the marriage certificate or a population register extract (nüfus kayıt örneği), and the children’s birth records.
• For an agreed divorce: the signed protocol.
• Evidence for the ground relied on: messages, witness details, medical or police reports.
• For maintenance: payslips, tax and social-security (SGK) records, bank statements.
• For property: title deeds, vehicle, bank and investment records, with purchase dates (they matter for 1 January 2002 and the filing date).
• For a marriage abroad: the foreign marriage certificate and proof of its notification (Law 5490 art. 24).
• For a UK divorce: the certified and translated judgment and proof of finality for the court (MÖHUK art. 53), or the apostilled final order for the consulate.
• For a protection order: nothing is required for protective measures (Law 6284 art. 8/3), but medical reports, messages and witness details help.