A Muslim couple marrying in Turkey faces two money systems at once. Fiqh gives the wife a mehir and keeps each spouse's property separate; the Turkish Civil Code (Türk Medeni Kanunu, TMK) gives the wife no mehir and, under Article 202, applies participation in acquired property (edinilmiş mallara katılma) by default, splitting everything earned during the marriage in half on divorce or death. The two can be reconciled. Mehir can be written into a valid contract, and Article 203 lets the couple choose separation of property (mal ayrılığı) under Article 242 through a notarised property regime contract (mal rejimi sözleşmesi) or a written declaration at the marriage application. This guide explains both routes and their costs.
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Mehir: what fiqh requires and what Turkish law recognises
Mehir (mehir) is the payment a husband owes his wife as a consequence of the marriage contract. The Presidency of Religious Affairs explains in its ruling of 12 July 2017 that mehir is the wife's own property, that it may be paid at the time of marriage (mehr-i muaccel) or deferred to a later date (mehr-i müeccel), and that if no amount was named the wife is entitled to the customary amount for a woman of her standing (mehr-i misil). There is no upper limit, the wife can forgive all or part of it, and it remains a debt on the husband's estate if unpaid at his death. The Diyanet provider page lists the Board's published rulings.
Turkish civil law does not have a mehir institution, but it does enforce contracts. A promise by the husband to pay a sum or deliver an asset to his wife can be written as a gift undertaking or a debt acknowledgement, and courts treat it under the general law of obligations. The safer form is a notarised document that names the asset, states that it is owed as mehir on the occasion of the marriage, and records whether it is immediate or deferred. Gold given at the wedding (takı) is the most common form of immediate mehir in practice, and writing down who it belongs to prevents the dispute that arises in many divorces. Our lifetime gifts and hibe guide covers the gift rules.
The default: participation in acquired property under TMK 202
Article 202 of the Civil Code states that spouses are subject to the participation in acquired property regime unless they adopt another regime by a property regime contract. The regime distinguishes acquired property (edinilmiş mallar) under Article 219, which covers earnings from work, social security and pension payments, compensation for loss of working capacity, income from personal property and substitutes for acquired property, from personal property (kişisel mallar) under Article 220, which covers items for personal use, property owned before the marriage or received by inheritance or gift, moral damages and substitutes for personal property.
When the regime ends, by divorce, death or a change of regime, each spouse has a claim to half of the other's net acquired property, called the participation claim (katılma alacağı). Personal property stays with its owner. The practical effect is that a husband's salary savings, a flat bought from earnings during the marriage and a business built during the marriage are all shared equally, whatever name is on the title. The Islamic inheritance under Turkish law guide explains how this claim is settled before the estate is divided.
Why the default regime conflicts with fiqh, and why some couples keep it anyway
In fiqh, marriage does not merge property. Each spouse owns what they bring in and what they earn, the husband bears the duty of maintenance, and on death the estate passes under the fixed shares (faraid), in which a wife takes one eighth if there are children and a husband one quarter. The default Turkish regime cuts across this in two ways. On divorce it transfers half of one spouse's acquired property to the other, which fiqh does not require. On death it hands the survivor half of the deceased's acquired property as a creditor before the faraid shares are even calculated, which shrinks what the children and parents receive. Our Diyanet inheritance guidance piece covers the Board's view on heirs agreeing to redistribute.
That said, many observant couples keep the default regime on purpose. The usual reason is fairness to a wife who gave up paid work to raise children: in fiqh she has a right to maintenance during the marriage but no claim on her husband's savings, and the participation regime gives her a protected half. Fiqh does not forbid a husband from agreeing to that outcome, since a person may gift or contractually share his property as he wishes during his lifetime. The choice is therefore a real one, and the couple should make it with full knowledge rather than by default.
Separation of property under TMK 242 and how to choose it
Article 242 states that under the separation of property regime each spouse retains the rights of ownership, management and benefit over their own property within the limits of the law. This is the regime closest to fiqh: no participation claim arises on divorce, and on death the estate is simply the deceased's own property, divided under the inheritance rules. Article 203 allows the contract to be made before or after the marriage, and limits the couple to the regimes set out in the Code, so a custom-written Islamic regime is not possible, but separation of property does the job.
Article 205 sets the form. The contract must be made at a notary, either drawn up by the notary (düzenleme) or signed by the parties and certified (onaylama), and both spouses must sign in person or through a representative with a special power of attorney. Alternatively, the couple can state in writing at the time of the marriage application which regime they choose, which the registrar records. The second route is free and simple but only works before the wedding; after it, the notary route is the only one. The Turkish Notaries Union page explains the notary system.
- Agree the regime and the mehir between yourselves, and decide whether wedding gold and any flat bought before the marriage are to be listed as personal property.
- Before the wedding: tick separation of property on the written declaration at the marriage application, which costs nothing.
- After the wedding, or if you want a fuller document: book a notary, bring both identity cards, and ask for a düzenleme-form property regime contract.
- Have the mehir recorded in the same visit as a separate acknowledgement, naming the asset and whether it is immediate or deferred.
- Keep a copy with your will; our notary will cost guide explains how the two documents work together.
What the notary visit costs in 2026
Notary pricing in Turkey is set by the annual Notary Fee Tariff (Noterlik Ücret Tarifesi), which the Ministry of Justice publishes each year. Under the 2026 tariff, the notary's own fee is calculated as 30 percent of the duty (harç) attached to the transaction, with a floor of 58.82 TL per transaction, and the per-page writing fee, signature fee, stamp duty and the cost of certified copies are added on top. Because a property regime contract has no monetary value stated, the duty is a fixed sum rather than a percentage of your assets, which keeps the total modest.
In practice couples should expect a bill in the low hundreds of lira for a short contract, more if the document runs to several pages or lists assets in detail. Ask the notary for an itemised estimate before signing. The mehir acknowledgement, if it names a sum, may attract duty on that value, so it is worth asking the notary whether to record it as a gift undertaking or a debt acknowledgement. The table below summarises the two property regimes side by side.
| Question | Participation in acquired property (TMK 202) | Separation of property (TMK 242) |
|---|---|---|
| Applies when | By default, with no contract | Only by contract or declaration at the marriage application |
| Earnings during marriage | Shared half and half when the regime ends | Belong to the spouse who earned them |
| Inheritance and gifts received | Personal property, not shared | Personal property, not shared |
| On divorce | Participation claim to half the other's net acquired property | No claim; each keeps their own |
| On death | Survivor takes participation claim first, then inherits | Survivor inherits only under the inheritance rules |
| Fit with fiqh | Weak unless agreed knowingly as a gift | Close; mirrors separate ownership |
Zakat, joint accounts and the practical money questions
Whichever regime you choose, zakat is personal. Each spouse pays on their own assets, including any mehir gold the wife owns, once it passes the threshold explained in our zakat on gold guide. A deferred mehir is a debt the husband can deduct and a receivable the wife need not pay zakat on until it is received, since its payment is uncertain. A joint participation account complicates this, because the bank treats the balance as equally owned unless told otherwise, so couples who keep separate property should keep separate accounts or document their shares.
Two other questions come up often. First, a wife is never obliged in fiqh to contribute her income to household expenses, but she may choose to, and many do; writing that choice down as a gift avoids a later claim that she is owed the money back. Second, a flat bought in one spouse's name with the other's money is, under both regimes, a potential source of litigation; if the intention is joint ownership, register it that way, and if it is a loan, document the loan.
Our view: which choice for which couple
Choose separation of property if you want your marital finances to track fiqh, if either spouse owns a business, or if there are children from a previous marriage whose faraid shares you want to protect. Record the mehir at the notary in the same visit, and treat wedding gold as the wife's immediate mehir unless you agree otherwise. Keep the default participation regime if the couple has knowingly decided that a homemaker spouse should have a guaranteed half of the savings and the earning spouse accepts that as a lifetime gift; in that case, write a will and an heir agreement so that the death outcome is also what you intend. In both cases, do it before the wedding if you can, because the written declaration at the marriage application is free. Facts checked against kurul.diyanet.gov.tr, mevzuat.gov.tr and tnb.org.tr on 11 September 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Is mehir legally enforceable in Turkey?
Not as mehir, because the Civil Code has no such institution, but a written promise to pay a sum or deliver an asset is enforceable under ordinary contract law. A notarised acknowledgement that names the asset, states that it is owed on the occasion of the marriage and records whether it is immediate or deferred is the strongest form. A verbal promise at the religious ceremony is hard to prove and is the usual cause of disputes.
What is the default property regime in Turkish marriage?
Participation in acquired property, under Article 202 of the Civil Code. Everything a spouse earns during the marriage is acquired property and is split half and half when the regime ends, while property owned before the marriage and anything received by inheritance or gift stays personal. The regime applies automatically unless the couple chooses another one by notarised contract or by declaration at the marriage application.
Can we switch to separation of property after the wedding?
Yes. Article 203 allows a property regime contract before or after the marriage, and Article 205 requires it to be made at a notary in düzenleme or onaylama form with both spouses signing. The switch takes effect from the date of the contract and does not reach back, so acquired property accumulated before that date is still subject to the participation claim unless the contract says otherwise within the limits of the law.
Who owns the wedding gold under Turkish law?
Under both regimes, gifts received by a spouse are that spouse's personal property, so gold given to the bride is normally hers. Disputes arise over gold pinned on the groom or handed to the couple jointly. Writing in the mehir acknowledgement that the wedding gold is the wife's immediate mehir settles the question and matches the fiqh position that mehir is her property.
Does separation of property disadvantage a wife who stays at home?
It can, because she builds no claim on her husband's savings during the marriage. Fiqh answers this with the husband's maintenance duty, the mehir and the option of lifetime gifts, not with a statutory half. A couple that chooses separation of property should therefore set a meaningful mehir, keep assets bought for the wife in her name and consider periodic gifts, so that the fiqh model is applied in full rather than only in the part that favours the earner.
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How does the property regime affect Islamic inheritance?
Under the default regime the surviving spouse first takes the participation claim as a creditor and then inherits a share of what remains, which is a larger total than the faraid share. Under separation of property only the inheritance share applies. Couples who want the estate to follow faraid should combine separation of property with a will and, where the heirs agree, a heir agreement under Article 676, as explained in our estate planning hub.
