What Are the Consequences of Disclaiming an Inheritance?
Disclaiming an inheritance effectively terminates the status of heir retroactively, i.e., from the moment of the deceased’s death (Civil Code Art. 611). Disclaiming an inheritance has separate legal consequences for legal heirs and designated heirs:
Legal Consequences of Heirs Disclaiming an Inheritance
Renunciation of inheritance effectively terminates the right to inherit. The inheritance is distributed as if the renouncing heir had predeceased the decedent. If the renouncing heir has a lower-ranking heir, the inheritance share passes to that heir, or in this case, the inheritance share of those inheriting from the same group increases.
If all representatives of the closest legal heirs renounce the inheritance, the estate is liquidated by the civil court of conciliation in accordance with the provisions on bankruptcy, pursuant to Article 612/l of the Civil Code. The inheritance does not pass to the heirs who replace those who renounce it.
After official liquidation, the appropriately reduced remainder is distributed among those who renounced the inheritance (TMK m. 612/ll). However, if all appointed heirs renounce the inheritance, their shares are returned to the landowner, and the legal heirs benefit from this. In this case, TMK 612 does not apply.
If all legal and appointed heirs renounce the inheritance, official liquidation is carried out in accordance with TMK 612.
In this case, TMK 612 does not apply, but if the legal heirs renounce the inheritance, according to TMK 611, the inheritance shares will pass to the legal heirs who take their place.
If all heirs renounce the inheritance, according to Article 613 of the Civil Code, the entire share of the heir passes to the spouse, and the spouse becomes the sole heir. When the entire family renounces the inheritance, it does not pass to the second group, and the spouse becomes the sole heir. The descendants referred to here are only those who were initially heirs upon the death of the deceased, not the entire family of descendants.
Article 614 of the Turkish Civil Code regulates the renunciation of inheritance in favor of the next heir. Accordingly, the heir who renounces the inheritance does so on the condition that the heir or heirs following him/her are invited to accept or renounce the inheritance. This invitation is made by the Peace Court of the deceased’s last place of residence. The court invites the lowest-ranked heir to decide within one month. Silence during this period is considered a rejection. (TMK 614/ll)
Consequences of Heirs’ Rejection of the Inheritance
If the heirs reject the inheritance, unless otherwise stipulated, only the legal heirs benefit from the share of the rejected inheritance (TMK m. 611/ll).