Öz
According to the Turkish Act on Private International Law and International Civil Procedure Art. 20/1, inheritance shall be governed by the the national law of the deceased; Turkish law shall be applicable regarding immovable property situated in Turkey. In the article, a dual distinction has been made in terms of movable and immovable properties. Accordingly, the national law of the deceased person is applied on the movables in the estate and the immovables outside of Turkey, whereas Turkish law is applied to the immovables in Turkey. With reference to this, who the heirs are is determined by the law applied in accordance with Art. 20. If the deceased person has no heirs, the Act states that the estate in Turkey without heirs is transferred to the state (Art. 20/3). In this study, it will be examined whether the estate in Turkey without heirs was seized as a last statutory heir or a sovereign right of the state, in order to determine the right of the Turkish state. In addition to that, it will be evaluated whether the estate can be considered without heirs when the foreign state is the statutory heir of the estate in Turkey or the foreign state is appointed as an heir for the estate in Turkey. It will also be discussed whether the foreign state being the last statutory heir or being the appointed heir will make a difference in terms of movable and immovable estates without any heir in Turkey. Lastly, the estate of foreigners who do not have any heirs in Turkey will be discussed. It is concluded that the foreign state can acquire the movable estate in Turkey as the appointed heir.