Contributions and Calculation of a Claim to a Share in Increased Value

Legal Article · 12 November 2026
Attorney Thomas Andreas Di Constantinople

A claim to a share in increased value may arise when one spouse contributes to the acquisition, improvement or preservation of property belonging to the other spouse without compensation or adequate consideration. Article 227 TMK provides for participation, in proportion to the contribution, in the property's increase in value at liquidation. This claim does not have the same legal effect as becoming a co-owner of the property; the rule establishes a monetary claim calculated by reference to the contribution.

The first step is to establish the existence, source, timing and amount of the contribution. The existence of a marriage does not itself prove a contribution to a particular asset. For example, money transferred towards the acquisition price of the other spouse's real property is not assessed in the same way as general expenditure on shared living costs. Allegations that the payment was a gift, that consideration was received or that it arose from another legal relationship also matter when characterising the contribution.

The statutory calculation relates the property's value at liquidation to the initial contribution ratio. If the property has lost value, the initial value of the contribution is taken as the basis. If the property was disposed of earlier, the judge determines the amount payable equitably. It is therefore insufficient simply to apply the amount of a bank transfer mechanically to a current price increase; the acquisition and liquidation values and the effect of subsequent investments must be distinguished.

Spouses may waive participation in increased value or change the ratio by written agreement. Transfers of resources between the personal and acquired property categories of the same spouse instead concern the adjustment provisions in Article 230 TMK. Distinguishing a contribution to the other spouse's property from a contribution between one's own property categories prevents the same payment from being converted into multiple heads of claim.

Legal Basis: Turkish Civil Code No. 4721, Arts. 227, 230.

This article has been prepared for general legal information purposes.