Identifying Personal Property in a Matrimonial Property Regime

Legal Article · 12 November 2026
Attorney Thomas Andreas Di Constantinople

Personal property is the category of assets that must be separated from the liquidation calculation under the regime of participation in acquired property. Article 220 TMK lists items exclusively for personal use, assets belonging to a spouse at the start of the regime, property subsequently obtained through inheritance or gratuitously, and claims for non-pecuniary compensation. Assets replacing personal property may also retain their personal property character.

For example, selling inherited real property and buying another asset with the proceeds requires examination of the substitution relationship. The new asset's purchase during marriage does not, by itself, require the entire price to be treated as acquired property. Conversely, where personal and acquired resources are used together, the flow of payments and contributions between property categories must be established. A document showing only the final transaction does not always explain the money's original source.

An asset itself and its income are also distinct. Under the statutory system, income from personal property is acquired property within Article 219 TMK. Spouses may agree in a matrimonial property agreement, to the extent permitted by law, that this income will not form part of acquired property. Ownership of inherited real property and rental income obtained during marriage may therefore have different classifications.

Article 222 TMK matters for proof. The party asserting that an asset is personal property must establish facts supporting that classification; a spouse's assets are presumed to be acquired property unless proved otherwise. Inheritance certificates, the nature of gifts, historical account movements and tracing sale proceeds serve this distinction. Payment of a debt belonging to the personal property category from acquired property may require adjustment under Article 230 TMK. Classification as personal property does not mean that no other type of claim can arise under any circumstances.

Legal Basis: Turkish Civil Code No. 4721, Arts. 219–222, 230.

This article has been prepared for general legal information purposes.