How is a certificate of inheritance obtained and queried on e-Devlet?

One of the first requests that a person who has lost a relative meets at a bank, at the land registry or at another institution is a certificate of inheritance. What the certificate means is covered in a separate note. This note explains the ways in which the certificate is obtained and what the query services on e-Devlet cover.

Summary: An application for a certificate of inheritance can be made to a notary or to a civil court of peace. An application to a notary can be made in writing or orally; however, a notary cannot issue the certificate where the matter requires adjudication, where the civil registry records are insufficient, or where the certificate is requested by foreign nationals. A certificate that has already been issued can be queried on e-Devlet through two separate services: the Ministry of Justice service provides information on certificates of inheritance and their annulments, while the Union of Turkish Notaries service concerns notarial transactions carried out electronically after 2 June 2021. A query returning no result may not show that a certificate was never issued.

Where is an application for a certificate of inheritance made?

Under Article 598 of the Turkish Civil Code, those who are established as statutory heirs upon their application are given, by the court of peace or by a notary, a certificate showing their status as heirs. Article 71/A of the Notaries Law also lists the issuing of a certificate of inheritance among the transactions that notaries may carry out.

There are therefore two places to apply: a notary and a civil court of peace. Which one can be used depends on the nature of the application.

How does an application to a notary work?

Under Article 71/B of the Notaries Law, upon the written or oral application of the person concerned, the notary draws up a record of the requested transaction; if the request requires a document to be issued, the notary also issues that document. The same article states that these transactions may be carried out by the notary personally, or by an official in the notary’s office who is a law-faculty graduate authorised to sign, or by a notary trainee.

Under the same article, a certificate of inheritance cannot be issued by a notary in the following cases:

• If issuing the certificate requires adjudication,
• If the civil registry records are not sufficient for issuing the certificate,
• If the certificate is requested by foreign nationals.

In these cases, the route of application is the civil court of peace. Details such as which documents a notary requires, the fee and the processing time are not set out uniformly in official sources and should be obtained from the notary where the application will be made.

How does an application to a civil court of peace work?

Article 382 of the Code of Civil Procedure lists the issuing of a certificate of inheritance among non-contentious proceedings. In other words, the process before the court is not a lawsuit resolving a dispute between parties, but non-contentious proceedings in which the status of heir is determined.

Article 71/B of the Notaries Law provides that a notary cannot issue a certificate of inheritance where issuing it requires adjudication or where the civil registry records are insufficient. Such cases are assessed by the civil court of peace.

Is it possible to object to a certificate or obtain a new one?

Under Article 71/C of the Notaries Law, those whose interests are infringed may object to a certificate of inheritance issued by a notary before the civil court of peace. Article 598 of the Turkish Civil Code, for its part, provides that the invalidity of a certificate of inheritance may be asserted at any time.

Under Article 388 of the Code of Civil Procedure, except where the law provides otherwise, decisions in non-contentious proceedings do not constitute res judicata in the substantive sense. This means that there is no definitive bar to an incomplete or incorrect certificate being challenged later; which route is to be followed is assessed according to the specific situation.

How is a certificate of inheritance queried on e-Devlet?

There are two separate services on e-Devlet, and their scope differs:

• Adalet Bakanlığı Veraset İlamı Sorgulama (Ministry of Justice Inheritance Certificate Query): The service description contains the statement “Mirasçılık Belgesi ve İptallerine İlişkin Bilgilerin e-Devlet üzerinden verilmesi” (provision of information on certificates of inheritance and their annulments via e-Devlet). The description does not separately state which institutions’ records the service covers; this should be checked on screen after identity verification.
• Türkiye Noterler Birliği Veraset İlamı Sorgulama (Union of Turkish Notaries Inheritance Certificate Query): According to the service description, certificates of inheritance issued from 2 June 2021 onwards under the Regulation on Carrying Out Notarial Transactions Electronically, in which the person is an heir, can be viewed.

Both services require identity verification with an e-Devlet password, mobile signature, electronic signature, Turkish identity card or internet banking.

What does it mean if the query returns no result?

A query returning no result does not by itself show that a certificate was never issued or that the person is not an heir. For example, the description of the notarial service covers transactions carried out from 2 June 2021 onwards; a certificate issued by a notary before that date may not appear on this screen. If it is not known whether the certificate was obtained from a court or a notary, both services should be checked. For the content of an existing certificate and which records should be compared separately, the note What does a certificate of inheritance show, and where is it obtained? may be consulted.

This note is for general information purposes and does not contain legal advice specific to any person.