In General
The second book of Turkish Civil Code with the title “Family Law” defines and regulates family relations. Family is a union of spouses and their prospective children. The rights and obligations under family law provisions start with engagement and followed by marriage, divorce, kinship (filiation), custody and guardianship.
Following the latest amendments and jurisprudence Turkish Family Law is based on equity of spouses and no longer accepts husband as “the authority (the chief) of the family”. For example wives are able to choose their own surname instead of their husbands according to the rules of High Court Judgement.
The Turkish Family Law aims to protect members of the family against possible harmful acts of other members. Especially the interest of any child is governed and protected by law and courts even against parents’ mutual agreement.
Overwhelming majority of the rules set by Family Law provisions are obligatory. Which means, most of the articles in Family Law are mandatory rules to be obeyed. For example, a marriage ceremony can only be celebrated by an authorized official person. Most of the times the elected mayor of a city or an official public agent appointed by him (who is called “marriage officer”) joint in the ceremony and record marriage as official.
On the other hand spouses may choose a different statutory for the family property regime such as joint property or property coownership instead of the default property regime which is ” participation in acquisitions within marriage”.
