Custody Lawyer in Ankara

Where there is a dispute over custody, the court, having regard to the best interests of the child, decides with whom the child will stay during the proceedings, to whom custody will be granted and how personal relations with the other parent will be arranged; a child development specialist’s assessment is obtained on these matters. The family court judge does not award custody merely to the parent with better financial means.

Article 183 of the Turkish Civil Code provides that the judge will take the necessary measures where new circumstances so require, such as the mother or father marrying someone else, moving elsewhere or dying. One of the most important grounds is harm to the best interests of the child; for this ground, it is required that the child’s needs are neglected and not met. Remarriage or relocation alone is not sufficient; it must adversely affect the child’s development.

Where one of the parents dies while the marriage subsists, custody belongs to the surviving parent under Art. 336/3 of the Turkish Civil Code. However, where the parent awarded custody by the divorce judgment dies, custody does not automatically pass to the other parent; the court decides having regard to the best interests of the child and assesses whether the other parent is able to provide for the child’s care and maintenance.

The family judge may hear a child who has reached the age of discernment. A professional is present at the hearing at which the child is heard; if necessary, it may be requested that the mother and father leave the courtroom so that the child can be heard in a comfortable setting. The judge may also order a social investigation report to examine in which environment the child can live better.

The court also decides how personal relations between the child and the parent not awarded custody will be arranged. That parent also pays child support towards the child’s care, education and health expenses; the judge may award such maintenance in favour of a minor child even without a request. Child support, as a rule, ends when the child reaches the age of 18, marries or is declared of age by court decision.

The competent court is the Family Court; in places where there is no Family Court, the Civil Court of First Instance hears the case in its capacity as a Family Court. The action may be brought at the defendant’s domicile or at the place where the claimant resides. An action to change custody is subject to simple procedure and is not subject to the judicial recess.