Inheritance Rights of Adopted Children

Evlatlıkların Miras Hakkı – İzmir Avukat

The Adoptive Relationship:

Kinship based on blood ties, as the name suggests, is based on the blood relationship between parents and child. On the mother's side, kinship is automatically established at the child's birth. On the father's side, kinship is established at birth for children born during or within three hundred days of the dissolution of a marriage, as well as through subsequent marriage by the father, recognition by the father, and a court decision in a paternity suit. Of course, a blood relationship between the parents and the child is essential for this. Adoption, on the other hand, is an artificial kinship relationship not based on blood ties. This relationship is established through legal means.

Inheritance Relationship:

There are individuals who are directly entitled to inheritance rights by the legislator. These can be listed as follows: blood relatives, adopted children and descendants, the deceased's spouse, and the state. As can be seen, adopted children are considered among those entitled to inheritance rights by the legislator.

Inheritance Rights of an Adopted Child:

For adopted children and their descendants to inherit a share of the deceased's (the adoptive parent's) inheritance, the following conditions must be met:;

1. The death of the adoptive parent,
2. The adoption relationship remains valid at the time of the adoptive parent's death.,
3. It is the continuation of the adoptive relationship.

If the person wishing to adopt dies while the adoption process is ongoing, a valid adoption relationship is not established at the time of death because the process is not complete, and therefore, the adopted child and their descendants have no inheritance rights. According to the Supreme Court's Unification of Jurisprudence Decision, if the adoptive parent dies during a lawsuit concerning the termination of the adoption agreement and the dissolution of the adoption relationship, their legal successors, as heirs, have the right to pursue and conclude the case.

The inheritance rights of an adopted child Turkish Civil Code’This is regulated in Articles 314 and 500 of the Turkish Civil Code (TMK)..

Turkish Civil Code Article 314"The rights and obligations belonging to the biological parents pass to the adoptive parent. The adopted child becomes the heir of the adoptive parent. If the adopted child is a minor, they take the adoptive parent's surname. The adoptive parent may give the child a new name if they wish. An adult adopted child may, if they wish, take the adoptive parent's surname at the time of adoption.".

For minors who are adopted jointly by spouses and who lack the capacity to make reasoned decisions, the names of the adopting spouses are written as the names of the mother and father in the birth certificate.

To ensure that the adopted child's inheritance and other rights are not affected and that family ties continue, all necessary connections are established between the family registry of the family from which the adopted child was transferred and the family registry of the adoptive parent. Furthermore, the final court decision regarding the adoption is recorded in both population registries.

"Records, documents, and information related to adoption cannot be disclosed in any way unless there is a court order or the adoptive parent requests it."”

Turkish Civil Code Article 500: ''‘ "Adopted children and their descendants inherit from their adoptive parent as if they were blood relatives. The adopted child's inheritance rights within their own family also continue. The adoptive parent and their relatives do not inherit from the adopted child."’

Kanuni düzenlemeden yararlanılabilmesi için öncelikle evlatlık ilişkisinin hukuken  kurulmuş olması gerekir. Evlat edinme işleminden önce doğmuş olsun ister de evlat edinme sonrasında doğmuş olsun evlatlığın tüm alt soyu da evlat edinenin mirasçısı olarak kabul edilir. Evlatlığın gerçekleştiği anda evlatlık olarak alınan kişinin çocuklarının ya da çocuğunun reşit durumda olması dahi bu durumunda etki eden bir sebep olmaz ve mirasta hak sahibi olarak sayılırlar. Evlatlığın mirasçılığı ise sınırlı olup tek taraflıdır. Evlatlığın ölümü halinde yasal mirasçıları sadece onun alt soyu ve kan hısımları olarak kabul edilir.

Regulations Regarding Adoption:

1. An adopted child's inheritance rights also continue from their biological parents. Thus, they can inherit from both their adoptive parents and their biological parents.
2. An adopted child can only inherit from the person who adopted them. They cannot inherit from the spouse or any other relative. This distinguishes them from inheritance based on other blood relationships.
3. Even if we assume that the adopted child dies before the adoptive parent, the adoptive parent cannot inherit from the adopted child. In this case, the adopted child has sole inheritance rights. That is, the adoptive parent and their relatives cannot inherit from the adopted child.

Can an adopted child be disinherited?

A person adopted as an heir and their biological child have the same inheritance rights. The provision regarding the possibility of disinheriting an adopted child or a person considered an heir can be found in Article 510 of the Civil Code. According to the article;

“"In the following cases, the testator may disinherit a reserved heir through a testamentary disposition.".

1. If the heir has committed a serious crime against the testator or one of the testator's close relatives;
2. If the heir has significantly failed to fulfill their obligations arising from family law towards the testator or members of the testator's family."”

According to the provisions above, a person who is biologically related to an adopted child may also face disinheritance to the same extent. Within the framework of these provisions, the adopted child must be involved in a situation that constitutes a serious crime.

Relevant Supreme Court Decision: The 14th Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals, in its decision numbered 2017/2282 and 2021/892, dated February 15, 2021, stated: “According to Article 314/2 of the Turkish Civil Code No. 4721, an adopted child inherits from the adoptive parent. According to Article 500 of the same code, the adopted child and their descendants inherit only from the adoptive parent as if they were blood relatives. There is no provision in the law stating that an adopted child inherits from the adoptive parent's ancestors if the adoptive parent dies before their own ancestors.”.

Other studies on inheritance law that may interest you:;

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