Translations for the family court

Where Turkish documents reach the family court

Family proceedings in England and Wales run through the Family Court and, for the most serious cases, the Family Division of the High Court. Turkish residents meet them in four main situations. A divorce application where the marriage took place in Türkiye needs the marriage certificate, and GOV.UK’s divorce guidance says a certificate not in English must be accompanied by a certified translation. A person divorced in Türkiye who wants to remarry or resolve finances here needs the Turkish decree recognised, which turns on Family Law Act 1986 section 46 and on a full translation of the judgment with its finality note (kesinleşme şerhi). Children cases involve Turkish custody (velayet) and contact orders, school and medical records from Türkiye, and sometimes Hague Convention abduction proceedings. Financial remedy cases list a tapu, Turkish bank accounts and an SGK pension on Form E. Domestic abuse applications rely on Turkish police reports and protection orders made under Law 6284.

What the court requires

The family courts apply their own procedure rules, which contain the same requirements for foreign-language evidence as the Civil Procedure Rules; because the civil wording is the one we could verify, the box summarises Practice Direction 32. In short: a witness statement in a foreign language must be translated, the foreign-language original filed with the court, and the translator must sign the original statement and certify that the translation is accurate. Where evidence is by affidavit, the translator makes an affidavit verifying the translation and exhibits both versions. Documents produced as exhibits, such as certificates and judgments, are certified in the ordinary way. Solicitors often add their own requirements, including a statement of the translator’s qualifications; send us the direction and we will comply with it.

Turkish documents that come up

• Marriage certificate (evlenme cüzdanı) or the marriage entry in a nüfus kayıt örneği.
• Divorce judgment (boşanma kararı) with the finality note.
• Custody and maintenance orders (velayet, nafaka).
• Other judgments and court records, including Law 6284 protection orders and police reports.
• Witness statements from relatives in Türkiye, written in Turkish and translated with the translator’s certificate.
• Tapu, bank statements, SGK records and valuation reports for Form E.
• Turkish school and medical records in children proceedings.

Common reasons family court bundles are criticised

• Only the operative part of a Turkish judgment is translated. The court needs the whole document, including the parties, the reasoning, the seal and the kesinleşme şerhi, to decide recognition.
• A witness statement is translated without the translator signing the Turkish original, so it does not satisfy the rule.
• UYAP e-signed documents are translated without the verification barcode that proves they came from the court system.
• Turkish court names are anglicised inconsistently within one bundle. We use one rendering throughout (Aile Mahkemesi as Family Court, Asliye Hukuk Mahkemesi as Civil Court of First Instance) and keep the Turkish in brackets.
• Names are spelt differently across documents because Turkish characters were dropped in one and kept in another.

How we prepare family court translations

Legal translators with Turkish family-law experience translate; a second linguist checks parties, dates, case numbers and dispositive wording. Judgments are translated in full with every stamp and annotation. For witness statements we sign the Turkish original and attach a translator’s certificate of accuracy in the form PD32 describes; where the court directs an affidavit verifying the translation, our translator swears it before a notary in Ankara and we obtain an apostille (£15) so the court can verify the oath. Every page carries our certification statement with the company’s Ankara registry details, the date, stamp and signature, and the original is attached. Solicitors receive a PDF for the e-bundle within 1–2 working days for short documents and a wet-signed set by courier from Ankara (£30) or UK Special Delivery (£8) if the court wants paper. A Turkish divorce decree runs to 4–10 pages (£40–100); a velayet order 3–8 pages; a marriage certificate one page (£10). No UK VAT is charged. Read our guide to Turkish court documents for the family court for the recognition sequence.