The fact that a real estate belongs to more than one person does not always mean shared ownership. The question of what is joint ownership, which is encountered especially in legal processes such as inheritance, is important in terms of correctly evaluating the rights and powers of the partners on the real estate. In this type of ownership, partners do not have specified shares and dispositions on real estate are subject to certain rules. This structure, regulated in the Turkish Civil Code, directly affects many transactions in practice.
What are the Basic Features of Joint Ownership?
Joint ownership is a type of ownership in which a real estate or asset belongs to more than one person, but the shares of the partners are not determined separately. According to the Turkish Civil Code, in this structure, each partner is considered a partner of the entire property, not a specific part of it. For this reason, the rights and obligations of the partners are evaluated together on the entire property.
The main features that distinguish this type of ownership from other forms of joint ownership are:
The partners' shares in the real estate are not certain. Each partner has the right to the entire property, together with the other partners.
As a rule, all partners must act together in sales, donations, mortgages or similar disposition transactions regarding real estate.
One of the partners cannot transfer or sell his own right as an independent share.
As long as the partnership continues, the rights of each partner are evaluated over the entire partnership.
Except for the exceptions specified in the law, one of the partners cannot make decisions regarding the management or disposition of the real estate alone.
Joint ownership often arises as a result of legal relations arising from the law, such as inheritance partnership, and continues until the termination of the partnership.
Due to these features, decisions to be made in joint ownership require more common will than in shared ownership. It is important for all rights holders to act together, especially in matters such as title deed transactions, sales processes and termination of partnership, in order to complete the transactions in accordance with the law.
What are the Situations That Cause Joint Ownership?
According to the Turkish Civil Code, joint ownership is not a type of ownership that individuals can create at their own discretion. This form of ownership arises as a result of a community relationship arising from the law or from contracts permitted by law. In other words, one of the most important answers to the question of what is cooperative ownership is that this ownership occurs spontaneously based on certain legal reasons.
Heritage Partnership
The most common case of joint ownership is the transfer of inheritance. Upon the death of a person, the heirs have joint rights over the movable and immovable properties included in the estate. Until the sharing of the inheritance is completed, none of the heirs has a determined share and the rights on the goods included in the estate belong to all heirs together. Therefore, transactions such as selling, donating or mortgaging an inherited house generally require the common will of all heirs.
Family Property Partnership
Family property partnership, regulated in the Turkish Civil Code, is one of the legal relationships in which joint ownership can occur. In this structure, partners do not have separate shares on the goods included in the partnership and the goods are considered to belong to the whole partnership. The rights and obligations of the partners are determined according to the legal regulations establishing the partnership.
Ordinary Partnerships and Other Communities Required by Law
In some cases, goods allocated to the partnership within the scope of an ordinary partnership may also be subject to joint ownership. In addition, this type of ownership may also arise due to different community relations clearly regulated by law. The nature and management of the partnership are shaped according to the provisions of the law or contract that constitute the community.
The basis of joint ownership is always a legally defined community relationship between the partners. For this reason, individuals cannot convert a real estate into joint ownership whenever they wish; For this, one of the legal reasons stipulated in the law must be fulfilled. In this respect, joint ownership has one of the most important features that distinguishes it from shared ownership.
How to Sell Real Estate in Joint Ownership?
Sale of real estate under joint ownership is subject to different rules compared to shared ownership. The main reason for this is that the partners do not have determined shares and use their rights on the real estate together. For this reason, the transactions to be carried out during the sales process are carried out in accordance with the regulations in the Turkish Civil Code. As a rule, disposition transactions on real estate require all partners to act together.
The main points to consider during the sales process are:
As a rule, the approval of all partners is required for the sale of a property subject to joint ownership. If one of the partners does not participate in the sale or does not approve, the title deed cannot be transferred.
Since the partners do not have determined shares, no partner can transfer or sell his right over the real estate to a third party on his own.
It is not mandatory for the partners to be present together at the land registry office. If a notarized power of attorney is given, sales transactions can be carried out through the authorized person.
If the partners cannot agree on the sale, a lawsuit can be filed to dissolve the partnership. If it is decided to sell the real estate in line with the decision of the court, the resulting price will be shared among the rights holders in accordance with the legal rules.
Sales transactions under joint ownership are based on the protection of the rights of all partners. For this reason, especially in the case of immovable properties acquired through inheritance, reaching an agreement between the partners and fulfilling the necessary legal conditions before making a sale decision contributes to a faster and smoother progress of the process.
How to Terminate Joint Ownership?
Joint ownership ends when the legal relationship between the partners ends or the ownership structure changes. How the process will proceed may vary depending on why the partnership was established and whether the partners can reach an agreement. Especially in joint ownership arising from a partnership of inheritance, the partnership ends with the sharing of the inheritance.
If the partners agree among themselves, they can decide together how the real estate will be shared. If the real estate can be physically shared, the rights of each partner can be determined, or the parties can agree to register the real estate in the name of one or more partners. When such transactions are completed, joint ownership ends and a new ownership order is created.
In some cases, partners may choose to convert joint ownership into joint ownership rather than ending it completely. Once the necessary legal conditions are met, the shares of the partners are determined and each partner can dispose of his own share independently. This transformation also allows the sale and transfer of real estate to be carried out more easily.
If an agreement cannot be reached between the partners, legal action may be taken. In this case, a lawsuit is filed to dissolve the partnership and the court is requested to decide. The court evaluates whether it is possible to share the real estate as is. In cases where sharing is not possible, it may be decided to sell the real estate and the proceeds from the sale will be shared among the rights holders within the framework of legal rules.
With the termination of joint ownership, the rights and obligations of the partners on the real estate are shaped according to the new legal situation. For this reason, it is important that the process is carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Turkish Civil Code in order to avoid loss of rights.
In order to make the right decision in legal transactions regarding real estate, it is necessary to know the answer to the question of what joint ownership means and the consequences of this type of ownership. It is of great importance that the processes are carried out in accordance with the current legislation in order to avoid loss of rights, especially in cases of inheritance and joint ownership.
