How Are a Will’s Formal Requirements Checked?

Wills and Inheritance Agreements

Prepared by: Constantinople

First identify the type of will. A holographic will has different conditions from an official will executed before a notary. The types and formal rules in Articles 531 and following of the Turkish Civil Code are examined with the execution process. Validity cannot be decided from the document’s heading alone.

A holographic will must be written entirely in the testator’s own handwriting, stating the year, month and day, and signed. Signing a computer-written text does not automatically turn it into a holographic will. Additions, amendments and attribution of date and signature may require specific examination.

For an official will, the authorised official, two witnesses and procedure applicable to the testator’s circumstances matter. Witness disqualifications and the effect of participation on certain benefits are assessed separately. Not every procedural defect invalidates the whole will in the same way; the alleged defect’s legal consequence must be identified.

An oral will is an exceptional route where extraordinary circumstances, such as imminent danger of death, prevent use of other forms. Conditions include a declaration before two witnesses, documentation and prompt court application. If another form becomes possible later, the oral will loses effect after one month. We examine type and circumstances at execution separately, testing alleged defects against the original and transaction records.