Refusal of the Inheritance

In short

Refusal of the inheritance is an open declaration bound to the period and to the form. Refusal is bound to the period and to the form. Silence may be counted as acceptance in a given file. The arithmetic of the reserved share is in a separate writing.

The date of death and the service are the photograph of the period of refusal. The debt of the estate does not affect the decision of refusal. Missing the period does.

The certificate of heirship is the face of identity. It is not a copy of the petition of refusal.

The civil court of peace in Ankara is looked at according to the settlement and the estate.

Related writings: the certificate of heirship.

When inheritance is mentioned, an immovable, a bank account or a vehicle often comes to mind. An inheritance may also bring together credit debts, suretyships, enforcement proceedings and commercial obligations. For this reason the question "acceptance or refusal?" should be answered by seeing the table of the estate, not with an emotional reflex.

Refusal of the inheritance is a declaration of will in which the heir states, within the statutory period, that they do not accept the inheritance. When the period and the procedure are missed, the risk of meeting an unwanted burden of debt may increase. This writing presents general information about what refusal is, whom it concerns, how the process works and what the frequent mistakes are. The result may change according to the dates of the concrete event, its documents and the current legislation.

What is refusal of the inheritance?

Refusal is an open declaration that aims to prevent the inheritance from passing to the heir. The basic idea is that the inheritance is refused as a whole. Taking selected property and leaving the debts outside does not, as a rule, fit the working of the institution of refusal.

The decision of refusal comes onto the agenda most of the time with the concern of an "indebted estate". The appearance of being indebted and the real burden of debt are not always the same. The visible enforcement file may be exaggerated or secured. Conversely, a hidden suretyship and obligations of a tax or social-security nature may appear later. This uncertainty makes a hurried refusal as risky as a hurried acceptance.

Refusal should not be mixed with the keeping of an official inventory of the estate, with requests for an extension of the period, or with other protective paths. The condition and the result of each institution are different. A wrong characterisation gives rise to a wrong application.

Whom does it concern?

• Statutory or appointed heirs who carry a suspicion of debt or of suretyship after the deceased
• Heirs in estates where there is a commercial enterprise, a cheque or a note, or an intense credit relation
• Files with more than one heir, that cannot be divided, or with a complex estate
• Persons who live abroad and received the information of the death and of the period late
• Heirs who received service of an enforcement proceeding, or who see pressure from a creditor
• Descendants, or members of another class, who want to know that their own position of heirship will change after the refusal

Even if the death took place in Ankara or in another place, the competent civil court of peace and the completeness of the papers affect the pace of the process. Local density does not guarantee the result. The correctness of the procedure has priority.

How does the process work?

1. Making the death and the position of heirship clear: The death certificate, the population record and, if possible, the certificate of heirship are prepared. Without it being known who the heirs are, the table of refusal cannot be built.
2. A preliminary examination of the estate: The appearance of movables and immovables, the bank and the vehicle, the company share, and, against them, the credit, the enforcement, the suretyship and the debts that have become due, are listed. An incomplete list may lead to the wrong decision.
3. The calculation of the period: From which fact the statutory period of refusal started to run is checked with the concrete dates. If there is pressure of the period, the priority is made clear.
4. Preparation of the decision and of the declaration: Acceptance, refusal or the need for an additional examination is assessed. The declaration should be written openly and without hesitation.
5. Application to the civil court of peace: The declaration of refusal is made at the competent court. The papers that are asked for are completed.
6. Following the results: The effect of the refusal on the other heirs, the transactions of the estate and, if there are any, the dimensions of enforcement are followed.

These steps do not last the same length in every file. In some estates a quick summary of debt and of assets is enough. In others a company share, a receivable that is in litigation, or property abroad asks for a deep examination.

Conditions, periods and critical points

The period relating to refusal is, in practice, the most critical element. When the period is missed, the provisions of the inheritance may give rise to a result in a different form. For this reason the approach "first we divide the property, if a debt comes out we will look" may be dangerous.

The form and the clarity of the declaration are important as well. Expressions that are vague, conditional or that contain "maybe" may weaken the purpose of the transaction. The order of the minute and of the papers of the declaration made before the court is valuable for proof later.

The mistake of a partial refusal is seen often. If the heir wants a particular immovable but does not want the credit debts, this preference is not solved, as a rule, with refusal. First the whole estate should be read. If it is needed, division, negotiation with the creditors or the other statutory paths should be thought of separately.

The return after refusal being limited increases the weight of the decision. For this reason a balance should be built between the period and the examination. Neither so slow as to burn the period, nor so fast as to be thrown without seeing the document.

If the density of debt and of proceedings is high, the window of inheritance law alone may not be enough. Subjects such as pressure from the creditor, attachment and the order of ranking intersect with enforcement and bankruptcy. This intersection may affect the timing of the decision of refusal.

What is looked at in the examination of the estate

A practical preliminary checklist may include these:

• Visible immovables and the annotations on the title
• Traces of a vehicle, a bank, negotiable instruments and a company share
• Enforcement files, credit contracts, suretyships
• Possibilities of a tax, social-security or administrative debt
• Actions that continue and obligations of a letter of guarantee
• The fit of the actual goods in the house with the records

Even if the list cannot be completed, the area of "unknown risk" should be noted openly. As the unknown area grows, a hurried acceptance or a hurried refusal becomes more risky.

Mistakes that are made often

• Missing the statutory period, or calculating the starting date wrongly
• Giving an emotional decision of acceptance or of refusal without examining the estate
• Falling into the mistake of a partial choice (taking the property and leaving the debt)
• Ignoring the files of enforcement and of suretyship
• Leaving the declaration of refusal vague or incomplete
• Not taking into account the position of refusal or of acceptance of the other heirs
• Thinking that it will be easy to give up after the refusal
• Trying a transaction without papers, without authority, or at the wrong court

Risk of a loss of right: the period of refusal may have the nature of extinguishing the right. When the period is missed, the options may narrow.

The related legal frame

The provisions of the Turkish Civil Code on the refusal of the inheritance are the basic basis. Heirship, the estate and, in some cases, institutions such as the keeping of an official inventory are connected within the same book. In procedure, the transactions of the civil court of peace and the rules of service complete the process.

In practice the period, the clarity of the declaration and the facts of the estate are examined often. Judicial decisions are based on the event. The result in one file cannot be carried to another. Subjects such as the reserved share and reduction are not the same thing as refusal. For heirs whose share is affected, the writing what is the reserved share? should be read separately. The general frame is gathered on the page inheritance law.

The risk matrix in Ankara before the decision of refusal

Before the decision of refusal is given, a simple risk matrix may be built: the known assets, the known debts, the unknown area. As the unknown area grows, the risk of a hurried acceptance increases. As the period narrows, the risk of a hurried refusal increases. This tension makes a disciplined but quick preliminary scan necessary.

In the preliminary scan, the enforcement files, the credit contracts, the suretyships, the traces of tax and of social security, and the obligations of a company share, have priority. The mismatch of the actually valuable goods in the house with the records is noted as well. The approach "there is a house in appearance, so acceptance" becomes misleading if it ignores the mortgages and the attachments.

In estates that contain a commercial enterprise or a company share, the value of the share and the debt of the company are not the same thing. The transfer of the share, the partnership contract and the position of the capital should be read separately. In files of this kind, an assessment of a single sitting is not enough most of the time.

The calculation of the period, the fact of learning, and heirs abroad

The start of the period is the point that is disputed most in practice. The date of death and the date it was learned that one became an heir may be different. For heirs who received the news late, or who are abroad, documenting the fact of learning gains importance. A notice on social media, official service and information within the family may carry a different weight.

Even under the pressure of the period, the declaration needs to be open. Conditional expressions such as "refusal for now, we will look later" may not fit the purpose. The declaration should show a will of refusal without hesitation. If there is a lack of papers, the lacks should be listed in a form that will be completed quickly.

Choosing the competent civil court of peace correctly affects the pace of the transaction. An application in the wrong place may lose time. In files connected with Ankara as well, competence is determined according to the facts of the deceased and of heirship. The name of the city is not enough by itself.

The picture after refusal, and the other heirs

The refusal of one heir may change the position of the other heirs. For this reason directions within the family of "I refused, you refuse too", or the reverse, should be made according to each person's own risk matrix. Someone else's decision of refusal does not extend your period automatically.

After the refusal, the transactions of the estate, the relation with the creditors and, if there are any, the actions of division are followed separately. It should not be forgotten that refusal does not take the place of the disputes of the reserved share or of reduction. In estates that are without debt but dense with dispositions, the protection of the share runs with different institutions.

If the dimension of enforcement is dense, focusing only on the declaration of the inheritance stays incomplete. Headings such as the proceeding, the attachment and the order of ranking should be planned separately. Otherwise, even if the decision of refusal is correct, the perception of the actual risk does not become clear.

Conduct similar to acceptance, and hurried transactions

Some acts may be discussed as conduct that may be interpreted in the direction of acceptance of the inheritance. Facts such as taking possession of the property of the estate, undertaking to pay the debts, or transacting in the capacity of an heir, take a meaning particular to the file. For this reason, while refusal is being thought of, avoiding hurried transactions of disposition may be more prudent.

On the other side, obligatory and limited transactions directed at protecting the estate, and transactions of taking possession, are not the same. The separation is based on the event. A general list does not fit every file. In hesitation, making the legal frame clear before the transaction is useful.

Mistakes that are often asked between refusal and acceptance

The approach "let me take the property onto myself first, if a debt comes out I will refuse" is risky because of the period and of the facts of acceptance. Conversely, the approach "I know nothing, refusal at once" may also give rise to regret. The balanced path is to list quickly what is known, to mark what is unknown, and to make the calendar of the period visible.

A declaration of refusal may be needed even while the certificate of heirship is not yet there. Minimum papers such as identity and the death certificate should be prepared. The period running while the papers are waited for is among the points that are missed most often. For this reason the papers and the period should be conducted in parallel.

The acceptance of one heir does not remove the right of refusal of the other. Each heir is responsible for their own declaration. Pressure within the family, or a direction of "let us all do the same", does not take the place of the analysis of personal risk.

The declaration of refusal is read with the record of the estate. The period of refusal written in the file is kept. A period of refusal that is not in the writing is not added. The separation is built with the concrete record of the estate. The office address does not choose the competent authority.

Conclusion

Refusal of the inheritance is a strong tool against the risk of debt. It is limited by the period and by the procedure. The decision should rest on the reality of the assets and the debts of the estate. This text is for general information. It does not contain a promise of a definite result, of a gain or of a loss. An assessment based on the event should be made by taking into account the concrete dates, the documents and the current legislation.