Start with the collision, because everything else follows from it. Turkish intestate succession (Civil Code, TMK, Articles 495 onward) divides by parantela: descendants inherit first, sons and daughters taking equal shares, with the surviving spouse taking one quarter alongside descendants, half alongside the deceased's parents' line, three quarters alongside the grandparents' line, and everything absent all three. Classical Islamic inheritance (faraid) divides differently on exactly the points the Civil Code hardens: a son takes twice a daughter's share, a widow takes one eighth with children (one quarter without), a widower one quarter or one half, and bequests are capped at one third and cannot benefit an existing legal heir, per the dominant Hanafi position followed by Diyanet. A Turkish Muslim who wants faraid outcomes cannot simply write them into a will, and understanding why is the beginning of every workable plan.
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Reserved shares: the wall a will cannot break
Turkish law protects certain heirs with reserved shares (sakli pay, TMK 506): each descendant is protected at one half of their statutory share, each parent at one quarter, and the surviving spouse at their full statutory share when inheriting alongside descendants or parents (three quarters otherwise). A will that invades these shares is not void; it stands until a protected heir brings a tenkis (abatement) action, available within one year of the heir learning of the violation and up to ten years overall, which trims the dispositions back to the disposable portion. The practical consequence: draft a faraid-patterned will giving your daughter one third where civil law entitles her to one half, and she can sue for the difference and win. Courts apply the Code, not the fiqh, and no notary drafting cleverness changes that.
What a will CAN do: the disposable portion
Subtract the reserved shares and what remains is the disposable portion, which the testator may direct freely. This is where Islamic and Turkish law fit together surprisingly well: the Islamic wasiyya is capped at one third of the estate and cannot go to existing heirs anyway, so charitable bequests and gifts to non-heirs (a grandchild whose parent is alive, a relative outside the heir list, a foundation) sit comfortably inside the civil disposable portion. A notary will (resmi vasiyetname, about 3,000 TL all-in at the 2026 tariff) validly carries the wasiyya third, guardianship wishes for minors, funeral and debt instructions, and mahr acknowledgment. Our notary will guide covers the mechanics and the exact state tariff; the wasiyya third explainer covers what belongs inside it.
How faraid actually gets done: TMK 676
The working mechanism is post-mortem and consensual. TMK Article 676 lets all heirs, by unanimous written agreement (miras taksim sozlesmesi), divide the estate however they wish, including by Islamic shares. Crucially, Diyanet's Din Isleri Yuksek Kurulu explicitly rules that heirs may redistribute according to faraid by consent and that doing so discharges the religious obligation. Civil law divides; the family, if unanimous, redivides; religion is satisfied; the land registry records the agreed result. This is not a loophole; it is the system working as designed, since the Code lets capable adults dispose of their property as they agree.
The dependency is total, and honesty requires stating it plainly: one dissenting heir, or one heir's creditor, collapses the plan back to civil shares. An heir who converts, drifts, quarrels or simply prefers the larger civil share cannot be compelled. Families who care about faraid outcomes therefore treat the division as a lifetime project: religious education, a written statement of the deceased's wishes accompanying the will, early conversations, and sometimes lifetime transfers for assets where consensus looks unlikely. Our TMK 676 guide walks through the agreement itself.
The toolkit, complete and short
| Layer | Instrument | What it achieves |
|---|---|---|
| Religious math | Diyanet: Alo 190 fatwa line, written applications, provincial muftis (free) | Correct faraid shares for your family configuration; the wasiyya ruling |
| Civil validity | Notary will (resmi vasiyetname), 2026 tariff about 2,661.62 TL deed plus 80.68 TL per page | Disposable third, guardianship, debts, funeral instructions, mahr |
| Faraid outcome | TMK 676 unanimous heir agreement after death | Redistribution to Islamic shares, endorsed by Diyanet |
| Pre-positioning | Lifetime gifts (hibe), family protocol, written wishes | Reduces dependence on post-mortem unanimity |
What Turkey does not have is any commercial Islamic will service: no online wasiyya builders, no Shariah-certified estate planning firms at retail scale, no waqf-based consumer products, no Islamic professional executor industry. In the UK, Malaysia, Canada or the US, this article would end with a product comparison; in Turkey it ends with a notary and a phone line. We document that gap honestly in Turkey's Islamic will service gap, because pretending a market exists serves nobody.
The sequence for a Muslim family
- 1. Call Alo 190 or visit the provincial mufti with your family configuration; get the faraid shares and the wasiyya ruling in concrete terms.
- 2. Execute a resmi vasiyetname covering the disposable third (charity, non-heirs), guardianship of minors, debt and funeral instructions.
- 3. Prepare the heirs: document the faraid intent in writing alongside the will, socialize the TMK 676 expectation, and address likely dissent now rather than at the funeral.
- 4. Consider lifetime transfers (hibe) for assets where unanimity looks doubtful, knowing gifts made to dodge reserved shares can also be attacked via tenkis within the lookback rules.
- 5. Revisit at every life event: marriage, births, property purchases. Amendment costs one third of the deed fee (887.21 TL at the 2026 tariff).
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The honest bottom line
Turkish law will not enforce faraid for you, and no document exists that makes it self-executing. What Turkish law does provide is a complete, inexpensive toolkit for families who plan: a will for what may be directed, a Diyanet ruling for what religion requires, and a consent mechanism that lets a willing family close the gap entirely. The plan costs about 3,000 TL and some difficult conversations. The alternative, silence followed by civil default shares and a grieving family improvising fiqh at the land registry, costs considerably more. Start with the estate planning hub, and read the full checklist when you are ready to execute.