Although the death of the person is not considered definitively, the legal termination of the personality of the person who is considered as possible and whose corpse has not been found, after a certain period of time, is called absence.
According to the Turkish Civil Code, the conditions regarding the absence decision arise in two ways:
a- His disappearance in danger to be regarded as a possible death; Upon the request of the persons concerned, 1 year has passed since the disappearance of this person, the court in question gives a decision of absence.
b- Inability to receive news for a long time; In this case, 5 years have passed from the date of the last news of the person, and upon the request of the person concerned, a decision of absence is given by the court in question.
Pursuant to Article 32 of the Turkish Civil Code; “If there is a strong possibility about the death of a person who has disappeared in danger of death or has not been heard from for a long time, the court may decide on the absence of this person upon the application of those whose rights are dependent on this death. Competent court, the person’s last place of residence in Turkey; if he has never settled in Turkey, where he is registered in the civil registry; If there is no such record, it is the court of the place where his mother or father is registered.” is called.
According to this; The court in charge of the decision of absence is the “Court of Peace”. The competent court is the person’s last place of residence in Turkey; if he has never settled in Turkey, where he is registered in the civil registry; If there is no such record, it is the court of the place where his mother or father is registered.
Following the fulfillment of the necessary conditions for the disappearance decision, the court will make an announcement decision upon the application of the relevant persons (the persons whose rights are dependent on the disappearance decision, their heirs, testament creditors, if these persons are not present, the state) to the competent and competent court.
The purpose of the aforementioned announcement decision is to reach the court for hearing of the person about whom the decision of absence will be made or those who have information about him. After the announcement decision is made, the court will determine a waiting period of not less than 6 months for the person to whom the decision to be absent or those who have knowledge about it to provide information. If the person to whom a decision of absenteeism will be given has not appeared, has not been heard from, and the date of his death has not been determined, the court will issue a decision of absence by the end of the time period. Otherwise, the absence request will be dropped.
The inherited property of the absentee is delivered to the heirs in return for a certain period of time and security. The guarantee to be given by the heirs is limited to a certain period of time:
– 5 years from the delivery of the inherited goods in case of loss in danger of death,
– In case of not being heard from, the heirs of the person about whom a decision of absence will be issued, limited to 15 years from the date of the last news, must show an assurance.
If the absentee appears within these periods, the heirs will return the divided share from the estate to the absentee. If the absentee does not appear within these periods or in the meantime, if the absentee turns 100 years old, the guarantees given in this regard expire; the heirs are deemed to have acquired the inheritance that has been allocated to him from the estate.
At the same time, the decision of absence does not automatically end the marriage. The spouse of the person for whom a decision of absenteeism has been given may apply to the court and request the annulment of the marriage for this reason. The wife of the deceased appears to be married in terms of marital status, and this marriage must also be terminated by a court decision. The competent court in this matter is the Civil Courts of First Instance.
