Conditions and Procedure for Official Liquidation of an Estate

Legal Article · 12 November 2026
Attorney Thomas Andreas Di Constantinople

Official liquidation is the statutory process for paying estate debts out of the estate and distributing the remaining value to those entitled. Under TMK m. 632, every heir may request official liquidation instead of renouncing the inheritance or accepting it under an official inventory. Under this procedure, heirs bear no personal liability for estate debts.

Effect of Acceptance and a Creditor’s Request

If one of the co-heirs has accepted the inheritance, an heir’s request for liquidation based on this provision is disregarded. Official liquidation is therefore not an unlimited option available at every stage independently of the other heirs’ decisions. Conduct amounting to acceptance may also be relevant.

If the deceased’s creditors have convincing grounds to doubt that they will recover their claims and their requests for payment or security have not been met, they may request official liquidation within the three-month period in TMK m. 633. For legatees, the law provides an opportunity to request measures protecting their rights under the same conditions.

Liquidation is conducted under supervision by the civil court of peace or liquidators appointed by it. An estate inventory is prepared, claims and debts are identified, and necessary assets are realised. An estate whose assets do not cover its debts is liquidated under bankruptcy provisions pursuant to TMK m. 636. Liquidation is not the same as selling a single estate asset or making a private partition agreement among heirs.

Source

Turkish Civil Code No. 4721, m. 632–636.

This article has been prepared for general legal information purposes.