Decisions made by foreign courts are not automatically valid in Turkey. In order to make these valid in Turkey, it is necessary to file a recognition and enforcement case. For the same reason, many clients with a divorce decision received abroad appear to be married in Turkey unless they make the divorce decision valid in Turkey by filing a recognition and enforcement lawsuit in Turkey.

Unless the divorce decision made by foreign courts is validated with the recognition and enforcement case, it will not be processed by the relevant official authorities and the parties will still appear as married in the Turkish identity registers.

For this reason, the recognition and enforcement of divorce decisions taken abroad is a very important issue. Contact Antalya lawyer Ceren Topcu İncetaban and her Antalya Law firm for free information about the recognition and enforcement of your divorce decision. You can count on the ALFA Team, experienced in divorce cases and recognition and enforcement cases.

The lawsuit filed to ensure the validity of the decision regarding the divorce given by the foreign courts in Turkey is called the recognition of the divorce.

Enforcement of divorce on the other hand is a lawsuit, filed in order to ensure the validity and execution of secondary decisions (for example, regarding alimony) that must be executed in addition to the divorce in Turkey.

In other words, if the foreign court decision is not of an executive nature, only if the legal situation it has changed is desired to be valid in Turkey, a single recognition lawsuit will be sufficient. But if there are decisions that need to be executed, an enforcement action needs to be filed as well.

Contact Antalya Lawyer Ceren Topcu İncetaban and her Antalya law Firm in order to carry out the recognition and enforcement of your divorce decision made by a foreign court in a fast and correct way.

• IS IT OBLIGATORY TO FILE A RECOGNITION ENFORCEMENT CASE IN TURKEY FOR A DIVORCE DECISION MADE ABROAD?

If the recognition and enforcement case is filed with the wrong documents or in the wrong procedure, it is likely to take years.

For this reason, it is necessary to prepare the necessary documents with the help of a professional and prepare all the obligatory matters before the recognition and enforcement case is filed.

Some problems may occur when the recognition and enforcement case is not filed. For example; although you are divorced abroad, you still appear to be married in Turkey, you will have difficulties in selling your property, you will not be able to remarry, you may have difficulties in joint custody of children, vs..

Recognition and enforcement cases are very important in order to see the effects in Turkey of divorce decisions made abroad. Otherwise, it is possible to encounter the above-mentioned problems and more.

• WHAT DOCUMENTS ARE REQUIRED IN RECOGNITION AND ENFORCEMENT CASES FOR DIVORCE DECISIONS GIVEN ABROAD?

There are some documents required for recognition and enforcement cases in Turkey for divorce decisions given abroad.

The first document required in the recognition and enforcement case is the divorce decision, which is given at the end of the divorce case, filed in a foreign court. This decision must also be sealed and signed.

The divorce decision given by the foreign court must be the final decision. This means, the legal remedies must have been exhausted for the parties and the final decision must have been obtained. That the decision is final, is determined by an additional letter attached to the same decision. For recognition and enforcement cases, the decision must be finalized and this additional letter must be attached.

The finalized divorce decision given by the foreign court must also bear the Apostille annotation. This annotation must be given by the Turkish consulate or embassy in the country where the decision was made.

The decision will not be accepted by Turkish courts, if the decision given by a foreign court is not in Turkish. For this reason, the divorce decision, given by a foreign court, finalized and bearing an Apostille annotation, must be translated into Turkish and then approved by a notary public in Turkey before a recognition and enforcement case can be filed.

You don’t have to come to Turkey and attend the hearings if you give a power of attorney to a lawyer for recognition and enforcement cases. In such cases, the lawyer can handle all transactions on your behalf.

CoOur experts will provide you with detailed legal advice regarding recognition and enforcement cases within the same day.

The court in charge is the family court for the recognition and enforcement of the divorce decision given by the foreign court. The competent court is the address of the defendant’s place of residence in Turkey. If the defendant does not have a place of residence in Turkey, the court of the place where the defendant stays shall be authorized. If also this place is not available, a recognition and enforcement case can be filed in one of the Ankara, Izmir or Istanbul courts.

As explained above, recognition and enforcement of foreign divorce decisions are very important and should be followed carefully. For this reason, it is necessary to get support from a lawyer, expert in recognition and enforcement cases to avoid loss of rights and time. Feel free to contact us about any question about recognition and enforcement cases.