What Is a Reserved Share (Saklı Pay)? Violation of Reserved Shares and the Reduction Action (Tenkis) in Turkey

1. What does "reserved share" mean?

A person can decide by a will or an inheritance contract who receives their estate after death. Turkish law calls these dispositions upon death. This freedom has a limit: a person whose heirs include descendants, parents or a spouse may make dispositions upon death only over the part of the estate outside the reserved shares. If none of these heirs exists, the person may dispose of the entire estate freely (art. 505 [1]).

Key terms:

• Deceased (mirasbırakan): The person who died and whose estate is being inherited.
• Statutory share: The share an heir would receive under the law if there were no will.
• Reserved share (saklı pay): The protected part of the statutory share, which the deceased cannot reduce.
• Disposable portion: What remains after the reserved shares are deducted; the deceased may leave this freely.
• Reduction (tenkis): Cutting back a disposition to the extent needed to make up the reserved share. The disposition is not cancelled entirely; only the excess is reduced.

2. Who has a reserved share?

Source: art. 506 [1].

Siblings have no reserved share. It was abolished by Law No. 5650, in force since 10 May 2007 (arts. 505–506). Grandparents, uncles and aunts have no reserved share either. Because inheritance is governed by the rules in force on the date of death (Law No. 4722 art. 17 [2]), the earlier rule applies to deaths before that date.

The reserved share rate is applied to the statutory share, which itself depends on who else inherits. For example, a surviving spouse receives one quarter of the estate when inheriting with children and half when inheriting with the parents' line (art. 499 [1]); children share the rest equally.

3. How is the reserved share calculated?

The calculation is based on the estate as it stood on the day of death (art. 507 [1]):

1. Identify the assets and their value: real estate, vehicles, bank accounts, receivables, etc.
2. Deduct: the deceased's debts, funeral costs, the costs of sealing and inventorying the estate, and three months' living costs of the people who lived with and were supported by the deceased.
3. Add back certain lifetime gifts: gifts and similar transfers made during the deceased's lifetime that are subject to reduction (see below) are added to the estate for the calculation (art. 508 [1]). Certain life insurance claims are also added (art. 509).
4. Find the reserved shares and the disposable portion: calculate each protected heir's statutory and reserved share; what remains after deducting all reserved shares is the disposable portion.

In practice, asset values are usually determined by an expert appointed by the court.

Hypothetical calculation

This example is entirely hypothetical; the figures only illustrate the method. A has died, leaving a spouse E and two children, B and C. In a handwritten will, A left the whole estate to a nephew, D. On the date of death the estate is worth TRY 5,000,000, and debts and funeral costs total TRY 1,000,000. A made no lifetime gifts subject to reduction. The calculation base is TRY 4,000,000.

The disposable portion is 4,000,000 − 2,500,000 = TRY 1,500,000. The will is not invalid, but the gift to D can be reduced to the extent it exceeds this amount. E, B and C can each seek a reduction for their own reserved share by filing in time. If only B sues, for example, B's claim is limited to B's own reserved share of TRY 750,000.

4. Which dispositions can be reduced?

Wills and inheritance contracts

Gifts made by a will or inheritance contract that exceed the disposable portion can be reduced (art. 560). If the beneficiary is also a protected heir (for example, one of the children was left more), the reduction applies only to the part exceeding that heir's own reserved share (art. 561 [1]).

Lifetime gifts and similar transfers

Not every lifetime gift can be reduced. The law lists four groups of gratuitous transfers that are subject to reduction like dispositions upon death (art. 565 [1]):

1. Transfers made on account of the inheritance share to a statutory heir who later loses heir status; transfers of assets or releases from debt made to descendants on the basis that they will not be brought back into the estate; unusual dowries and start-up capital,
2. Transfers made to settle inheritance rights before death,
3. Gifts made with a reserved right to revoke them freely, and gifts other than customary presents given within the year before death,
4. Transfers clearly made to circumvent the reserved share rules.

Point 3 is generally read as follows: gifts made in the last year before death (except customary presents) and gifts the deceased could revoke at will are subject to reduction. Older gifts, unless they fall within points 1 or 2, can be reduced only if the condition in point 4 is met, that is, if an intention to defeat the reserved shares can clearly be shown. The Court of Cassation upheld a regional appeal court judgment holding that, for real estate given away more than one year before death, the reduction claim must be examined under point 4 and the deceased's intention to infringe the reserved shares must be proven first (Court of Cassation 1st Civil Chamber, 16.09.2026, 2026/3376 E., 2026/6068 K. [3]). Under the general rule on the burden of proof, the heir bringing the action must prove that intention (Civil Code art. 6 [1]). In the judgment that was upheld, the court looked at witness statements, company records and the real estate still left at death, and concluded that the deceased had acted to divide the assets among the heirs and that an intention to infringe the reserved shares had not been proven.

5. How is a reduction action filed?

Who sues whom?

• Claimant: An heir who did not receive their reserved share (art. 560). Each heir claims their own reserved share, and deadlines should be tracked for each heir separately. If the heir does not sue, the bankruptcy administration or creditors holding a certificate of unpaid debt may, under certain conditions, bring the action (art. 562 [1]).
• Defendant: The person who received the reducible benefit, for example a legatee, an appointed heir or the recipient of a gift.

Deadlines

Source: art. 571 [1]. The law treats these as time limits that extinguish the right itself (hak düşürücü süre): once they expire, reduction can no longer be sought by filing an action. If annulling one disposition revives an earlier one, the periods run from the date the annulment becomes final.

Where to file?

• Court: Civil court of first instance (asliye hukuk mahkemesi) (Code of Civil Procedure art. 2 [4]).
• Venue: The court of the deceased's last domicile (Civil Code art. 576 [1]). For reduction of dispositions upon death, this court has exclusive jurisdiction, so the parties cannot agree on another venue (Code of Civil Procedure art. 11 [4]).
• Mediation: As of the research date (30 October 2026), a reduction action is not among the disputes requiring mediation before filing (Law No. 6325 art. 18/B [5]).

Documents

Depending on the case, the following are usually prepared:

• Certificate of inheritance (mirasçılık belgesi), issued by a civil court of peace or a notary (art. 598 [1])
• The will and the record of its opening, if any
• Land registry records and the official deeds of transfers
• Bank statements, vehicle records, life insurance policies
• Documents showing the deceased's debts and funeral costs
• For older gifts, correspondence, witnesses and similar evidence that may show an intention to defeat the reserved shares

6. What happens at the end of the case?

• Order of reduction: Until the reserved share is made up, dispositions upon death are reduced first; if that is not enough, lifetime transfers are reduced starting from the most recent. Transfers to public bodies and to associations and foundations serving the public interest are reduced last (art. 570 [1]).
• Several gifts by will: Unless the will shows otherwise, all benefits under dispositions upon death are reduced proportionally (art. 563 [1]).
• Indivisible assets: If the asset cannot be divided without losing value, the beneficiary may either keep it by paying the value of the part to be reduced, or hand it over and claim money equal to the disposable portion. In either case, the payment is based on the asset's value at the date of judgment. The same rules apply to lifetime transfers (art. 564 [1]).
• Duty to return: A recipient acting in good faith must return only what was still in their hands when the inheritance passed; a recipient not in good faith is liable under the rules for a possessor in bad faith (art. 566 [1]).

7. Reduction, annulment and muris muvazaası compared

Annulment and reduction can also be claimed together against the same defendant in one action, one as the main claim and the other as an alternative (Code of Civil Procedure art. 111).

8. Frequently asked questions

Can I claim my reserved share while my parent is still alive?

No. The inheritance opens on death and the reserved share is calculated as at the day of death (art. 575 [1], art. 507). Reduction of lifetime gifts also becomes possible only after death.

I was disinherited in a will. Can I still claim my reserved share?

Disinheritance is allowed only on statutory grounds: a serious crime against the deceased or someone close to them, or a substantial failure to meet family-law duties towards the deceased or their family (art. 510 [1]). In addition, a descendant against whom a certificate of unpaid debt exists may be disinherited for half of their reserved share, provided that half is allotted to their children (art. 513). A validly disinherited person cannot bring a reduction action (art. 511). However, if the ground is not stated in the will, or if the disinherited person objects and the ground cannot be proven, the will is carried out without touching that person's reserved share. The burden of proving the ground lies with the person who benefits from the disinheritance (art. 512 [1]).

Someone else was named as beneficiary of a life insurance policy. Does that affect the reserved share?

It can. If the deceased took out life insurance payable on their death in favour of a third party, it is not the full insured sum but the surrender (purchase) value of the claim at the time of death that is added to the estate, and this value can be reduced (arts. 509 and 567 [1]).

Can I give up my reserved share in advance?

Yes, by an inheritance waiver contract with the future deceased. It can be made with or without consideration; the person waiving loses heir status and, if consideration was received, the waiver also binds their descendants unless the contract says otherwise (art. 528 [1]). The contract must be made in the form of an official will (art. 545).

I missed the deadline. Is there anything left?

You can no longer file an action; however, the law allows reduction to be raised as a defence at any time (art. 571(3)). For example, if a legacy has not yet been delivered and the legatee sues the heirs, the heirs can raise reduction as a defence in that case. The conditions and deadlines of other routes, such as annulment or muris muvazaası, must be assessed separately.

Does an adopted child have a reserved share?

An adopted child and their descendants inherit from the adoptive parent like blood relatives (art. 500 [1]). An adopted child therefore benefits from the reserved share provided for descendants in the adoptive parent's estate. The adopted child also keeps their inheritance rights in their birth family.