What happens when a partner dies

[Gypsyfilly1964]

I am a little bit confused.  We hope to buy a property to live in Turkey when we retire.  But I am reading little snippets of things and it's worrying me.  If my partner was to die what happens to the property that I am living in.  My two children are adults with families of their own and are not dependent on us.  Both me and my husband will be on the tapu

[nichola]

The law in Turkey is very specific.

With both your names on the tapu the following applies.

You already own your half of the property. That is and remains yours.

The surviving spouse will get 50 of the deceased share. This means that 75% of the property is now owned by the survivor.

The children are entitled by law to the other 25% between them.

They are under no obligation to take that 25% and they can sign their share over to you, but, if they wanted too they could legally make their claim.

In those circumstances you can 'buy them out' and give them the monetary value, or you can sell and give them their 25% between them that way.

Making a will in Turkey in an attempt to bypass the law is a fruitless and expensive waste of money.

[Gypsyfilly1964]

Ok, so say my partner died and I end up with 75%.  Will I have to settle /pay my kids their share immediately or can they wait til I pop me clogs.   I.e.  will I be forced to sell to clear up that "debt"

[nichola]

You can talk to them before you buy and discuss this and get their agreement in writing and notarised, which I would recommend you find a solicitor to do and you'll probably need power of attorney from them unless they come over and do it with you.

Like all these things, people's circumstances do change so your adult children who aren't currently dependant on you may find that that sum of money could make a difference to them in the future.

It's always best to plan ahead and cover all the bases.

I do believe though that if the house is registered as the family home and again you would probably need a solicitor to do this then the surviving spouse can live in the house until they too pass on.

[Phil]

Nichola, that is the clearest, most concise answer I have ever heard to this question.

In just one post you have cleared the mists which have hung over this problem in my mind for years !

[nichola]

Thanks Phil, happy to have helped   

[nichola]

Of course that's an answer to a very specific question.

I think when it comes to discussions like this people also ask about their own personal circumstances and then the information can appear to be confusing and contradictory.

Fo example if you don't have children, but have surviving parents or siblings, or, if you don't have children or surviving parents and your siblings too have died, but your siblings have surviving children, or perhaps more commonly there are children from other/previous relationships...

[Phil]

Yes ........ everyone's situation is going to be different. Fortunately my own is pretty straightforward. ( Well it is now ! ).

The most common I encounter is an unmarried couple with joint equal ownership with their own set of children from former partners / marriages.

I am guessing that an answer for them is not going to be quite so straightforward.

[Ray1951]

A friend’s partner died two years ago and it has been difficult to sort things out because both had families from previous marriages.  This couple did everything by the book, they both made wills then when he thought everything was sorted, he was told it had to go back to the court again.  Such a shame for something that they thought they had dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s not to mention the sudden passing of this poor man’s wife.

[Phil]

Ray, I appreciate you may not know much of the details of your friend's experiences but do you know of their Turkish wills were any help to the situation or did these turn out to be an irrelevance ??

I guess I am seeking an answer to the question "should unmarried joint owners consider making wills" ??