Capacity to Make a Will or an Inheritance Agreement

Legal Article · 12 November 2026
Attorney Thomas Andreas Di Constantinople

Capacity to make a testamentary disposition is assessed by reference to the circumstances at the time it is made. For a will, TMK m. 502 requires discernment and attainment of the age of fifteen. This differs from the general requirements for legal capacity; a person does not always need to have reached eighteen to make a will.

Conditions Vary According to the Transaction

A person making an inheritance agreement must have discernment, be of full age and not be subject to a restriction of legal capacity. It therefore cannot be assumed that someone able to make a will can also make an inheritance agreement on the same date. Final testamentary wishes that the testator must express personally cannot be formed by a representative.

Discernment cannot be reduced simply to whether a particular illness has been diagnosed. The person’s ability to understand the transaction’s meaning and consequences is relevant to the particular transaction. Advanced age alone does not establish incapacity, nor is a medical report conclusive evidence ending the debate in every dispute.

In an annulment action, medical records close to the execution date, medical assessments and other evidence concerning the circumstances are considered together. Lack of testamentary capacity and mistake, fraud, threats or duress are different grounds for annulment. The existence of discernment alone does not establish that a person’s will was free from pressure.

Source

Turkish Civil Code No. 4721, m. 13, 502–504, 557.

This article has been prepared for general legal information purposes.