Personhood can end in two ways: death and extinction.
1- DEATH
Determination of Death: According to Article 28/1 of the Turkish Civil Code, personhood ends with death. Rights inextricably linked to the individual cease to exist, while other rights pass to the heirs through inheritance. When personality ends, ownership of rights also ends, so new rights cannot be acquired. There are two different types of death in determining the subject of death: biological death and brain death.
Proof of Death: According to MK29/1, a person claiming that another person is alive or dead is obliged to prove it. Personal status records are available for this purpose. If the information in these records is alleged to be incorrect or incomplete, it can be proven by any means of evidence.
Presumptions:
There are also presumptions used to prove death. These are presumptions of death and presumptions of death occurring together.
-Presumption of Death: This can be used in cases where there is no doubt that the person is dead, but the body cannot be found. For example, if a passenger plane explodes, the presumption of death applies. According to Article 31 of the Turkish Civil Code, if a person is presumed dead based on life experience and cannot be found, they are considered dead. With the deletion of the death record, the consequences of this death arise.
– Presumption of Joint Death: In this presumption, what is important is not that the body cannot be found, but that the exact time of death of the deceased is unknown. There are multiple persons whose death cannot be determined. Those who die under this presumption are deemed to have died together.
For example, here, the first spouse to die becomes the heir of the other, but if there are no common children in the presumption of death, it passes to the second group of heirs.
Condition of the Body: There are no rights over the body of the deceased, but their relatives have personal rights over the body of the deceased. Damage to the body is considered damage to the person’s personality. Relatives can also file a lawsuit.
2- OBJECTION:
In some cases, the circumstances of individuals do not give rise to a presumption of death, but leave doubts as to whether they are dead or alive. Here, it is necessary that the individuals have disappeared under great danger of death or that there has been no news from them for a long time.
An example of disappearance under danger of death would be a soldier missing in action.
If there has been no news for a long time, there should be doubt as to whether the person is alive. Therefore, not hearing from someone who has gone to another country to work and is not in the habit of communicating does not fall under this category. If this person was in regular contact and suddenly cut off communication, this case can be filed. If the person has disappeared under danger of death, the case can be filed after 1 year, or after 5 years if there has been no news for a long time. Spouses, heirs, or witnesses in their favor may file this lawsuit.
A person declared missing is neither dead nor alive. The person’s property passes to their heirs. Similarly, those who claim the opposite of the missing status are also obliged to prove it.