Dutch Speaking Solicitors in Bodrum

Marriage in Bodrum Turkey

Marriage is considered the classic connection between two people of different sexes. Protected under constitutional law by Article 6 of the Basic Law, marriage, like the family as an institution, enjoys a special, socially privileged position. This position is associated with legal privileges, but also with manifold obligations, which are based on the legal act of formal marriage. The obligations of marriage include, for example, that it cannot be ended by a simple declaration of intent, but also only by a formal legal act (divorce decree). There are responsibilities towards the spouse, sometimes beyond the termination of the marriage, as the law knows only between first-degree relatives. In addition to the state marriage law, various religious communities know special marriage rights, which as a rule, however, have no significance for the state-defined rules of marriage. However, if it is a binational marriage, it may well happen that these actually religious norms may break into the Turkish legal system via Turkish International Private Law.

In order for the marriage to be able to trigger the rights and obligations described, it has had to be made in front of a registrar since 1875. Although a change in civil status law allows mosque marriages without prior civil marriage, the marriage only becomes effective in the legal sense with the civil marriage. Weddings held exclusively in a mosque are non-marriages within the meaning of Turkish law. Basically, the marriage is a personal legal transaction. You cannot be represented in front of the registrar at your wedding. Legal systematic special cases can arise from marriages with a foreign connection. If two Turkish citizens marry abroad, the legal regulations governing the place and the marriage apply to the form and effectiveness of the marriage. For recognition in Turkey, the marriage will be certified by the registrar on request in the marriage register. Such an application is also permissible if only one of the two spouses is Turkish. Cases in which two foreign citizens marry in Turkey can be more complicated. With the exception of the form of marriage, material marriage regulations of the home countries can become important here.