UK will and grant of probate translation into Turkish

The will, the grant and the difference

A will (vasiyetname) is a private document signed by the testator before two witnesses. A grant of probate (veraset ve vasiyet tasdiki, mirasçılık belgesi karşılığı) is the court document issued by HM Courts and Tribunals Service confirming that the executors named in the will may deal with the estate; where there is no will, the equivalent is a grant of letters of administration. GOV.UK defines probate as the legal right to deal with someone's property, money and possessions, their estate, when they die, and notes that extra copies of the probate document cost £2 each when ordered with the application and £16 each afterwards. The grant carries the court seal and, in most cases, a copy of the proved will bound to it.

For Türkiye it is the sealed grant with the will attached that matters, because the will alone proves nothing until a court has admitted it. Order a sealed copy for legalisation rather than sending the one your solicitor is using.

How Turkish inheritance law treats a UK will

Turkish private international law applies the deceased's national law to the succession but Turkish law to immovable property in Türkiye. A British testator's will is therefore relevant to Turkish bank accounts and movables, while a flat or land in Türkiye passes under Turkish rules, with reserved shares for spouse and children, whatever the will says. The court that decides this is the civil court of peace (sulh hukuk mahkemesi), which issues the Turkish certificate of inheritance; a lawyer's summary of the requirements is that foreign-language documents must be translated into Turkish by a sworn translator and, where required, notarised, and that documents lacking an apostille or a translation may be refused by tapu offices and courts. Heirs of a Turkish citizen who left a UK will are in the same court. See inheritance in Türkiye for heirs in the UK.

Offices that will ask for the translation

• Sulh hukuk mahkemesi issuing the veraset ilamı or deciding whether to give effect to the will's provisions.
• Tapu müdürlüğü registering the transfer of a property to the heirs (intikal) once the court has ruled.
• Turkish banks releasing the deceased's accounts to the executors or heirs.
• Vergi dairesi assessing inheritance and transfer tax (veraset ve intikal vergisi), which needs the value and the shares.
• Nüfus müdürlüğü where the will names a Turkish citizen and the death is being recorded. The death certificate itself is a separate document; see UK death certificate translation.

Apostille, then translation

The grant is a court document sealed by HMCTS and can go straight to the FCDO for an apostille; the paper service is £45, and the FCDO can tell you whether your copy qualifies for the e-Apostille. A will that has not been proved is a private document and needs a UK notary or solicitor to certify it before the FCDO will legalise it. Once the apostille is on the document, we translate the grant, the will, the executors' oath if attached and the apostille as one item; the translator sworn before an Ankara notary signs, and the notary attaches a copy of the apostilled bundle. Turkish courts in inheritance cases have asked for the translation to be apostilled as well, so budget £15 for the kaymakamlık apostille. The order of steps is on apostille and legalisation.

Terminology and price

English wills use terms with no Turkish counterpart: executor, residuary estate, trust for sale, per stirpes. We translate them with the Turkish Civil Code term where one exists (vasiyeti tenfiz memuru, kalan tereke) and add a translator's note where the concept is absent, so that the Turkish judge reads the document as the court in England did. A grant with a short will and apostille is 3 to 5 pages of 1,000 characters, £19.50 to £32.50; a long will with trusts can reach 10 to 15 pages. The Ankara notary tariff of about £13.50 per page plus £5 handling is added, and £15 for an apostille of the translation. No UK VAT is charged. Turnaround is 2 to 4 working days plus a day for the notary; the PDF arrives by e-mail and the wet-sealed original, which the court keeps, goes by courier for £30, usually to the lawyer in Türkiye handling the estate. No collection.