Archive for Family Law

A spouse who suspects infidelity or abuse often reaches for the most direct proof available, and in the age of smartphones that usually means a recording. Yet a recording that seems to settle the matter beyond doubt can turn out...

In a contested divorce, the outcome rarely turns on what actually happened in the marriage. It turns on what each spouse can prove. Turkish family courts decide questions of divorce, fault, custody, alimony, and compensation on the basis of the...

The most common path to divorce in Turkey does not depend on proving a specific wrongdoing such as adultery or cruelty. Instead, it rests on a broader and more flexible concept: that the marriage has broken down so completely that...

A serious and incurable mental illness can place an unbearable strain on a marriage, and Turkish law recognizes this reality by allowing the healthy spouse to seek divorce on this specific ground. Unlike most other grounds for divorce, this one...

When one spouse leaves the shared home and refuses to return without any justification, Turkish law gives the abandoned spouse a specific ground to end the marriage. Known under Turkish law as terk (desertion), this ground is regulated by Article...

When a spouse commits a degrading crime or settles into a way of life that conflicts with basic standards of honor and decency, the other spouse should not be expected to remain bound to the marriage. Turkish law addresses precisely...

When a marriage deteriorates into physical violence, severe mistreatment, or attacks on a spouse’s dignity, Turkish law treats these situations differently from ordinary marital breakdown. Rather than requiring the petitioning spouse to prove that the marriage has become unbearable, the...

When a marriage ends in Turkey, one of the most common practical concerns for women — particularly foreign nationals who have built a life, a career, or a family here — is what happens to the surname they have used...

When a Turkish family court awards alimony, the obligation it creates is not a moral suggestion but a binding judicial order. A spouse, a former spouse, or a child entitled to support relies on these monthly payments as a matter...

Adultery has long held a distinct place in the law of divorce in Turkey. Unlike general grounds such as the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage, which require the court to assess the overall condition of the marital union, adultery is...