Name Change Case

Name change lawsuit is a type of lawsuit filed to change the name or surname based on justified reasons according to Article 27 of the Turkish Civil Code. Since justified reasons are not specified in the law, the judge will appreciate whether the reason for changing the name is justified in each case. While filing the lawsuit, the plaintiff should present the justification for changing the name or surname with evidence. Upon the acceptance and finalisation of the lawsuit, the change is registered in the civil registry and announced.

What are the Reasons for Changing Name and Surname?

No limited grounds are listed in this regard. The law states that it can only be filed based on justified reasons. This justified reason may be that the name or surname has a meaning that may cause embarrassment or ridicule. The judge will appreciate whether this justification is justified or not.

For example, in the request to change the name “Yosma Yılmaz” to “Esma Yılmaz”, it is considered that the name “Yosma” has been given a slang meaning other than the meaning it has over time and this situation is considered to be a justified justification because it harms the person in his/her social life. The same applies to surnames.

Article 3 of the Surname Law also prohibits some surnames, and it may be requested to change the surnames within the scope of this prohibition.

Surname Law No. 2525

Article 3: Surnames that do not conform to public decency or are disgusting and ridiculous, as well as the names of ranks and offices, tribes, foreign races and nationalities may not be used.

Another common reason is that the person’s name in the civil registry is different from the name by which he/she is known and recognised in his/her environment. For various reasons, the person may not use the name written in the civil registry and may be known by a different name. The most important evidence in the lawsuit filed on this ground is witnesses, and witnesses are heard before the court in order to prove the grounds in the petition. All kinds of evidence that will justify the person to change his/her name can be used in this case and added to the petition.

In addition, it is possible not only to change the name, but also to remove a name or add a name to the existing name in case of more than one name. However, all these are subject to the condition of proving the existence of a justified reason for this change to be made in the civil registry within the framework explained above.

How to file a name change case?

The name change lawsuit is filed by applying to the Court with a petition and then depositing the necessary fee and expense advance to the court cashier. Since it is a lawsuit in nature, this lawsuit should be filed with an appropriate petition addressed to the Court, including the identity information of the parties, the reasons for the name change, the evidence and the final claim, as in other cases.

Since Article 36 of the Law on Population Services stipulates that the director of the civil registry or the civil registry officer to be assigned by the director of the civil registry shall be present in these cases, the Directorate of Civil Registry is named as the defendant in the name change case.

The Court prepares a memorandum of tensip, summons the necessary information from the relevant institutions and sets a hearing date. During the hearings, the evidence of the parties is evaluated and the Court renders a favourable or unfavourable decision. The decision is subject to the objection of the plaintiff, the civil registry office and the relevant parties.

Paragraph 3 of Article 27 of the Turkish Civil Code provides for a special objection to name change lawsuits, and the person who has been harmed by the change of name may file a lawsuit for the annulment of the change decision within one year starting from the day he/she learnt about it. As can be seen, there is also an extraordinary appeal procedure for these lawsuits with no upper limit.

Which Court Hears Name Change Lawsuits?

The name change case is filed in the Civil Court of First Instance in the settlement of the person who wants to change the name or surname. In other words, the court in charge of the name change case is the Civil Court of First Instance.

According to Article 36 of the Population Services Law, Civil Courts of First Instance are authorised in all cases where changes are requested in the civil registry records for any reason, not only for the change of name or surname.

Name Change Case Petition Sample

The name change lawsuit petition sample will vary according to why you want to change your name or surname. As your request must be in accordance with the truth, as the law seeks a justified justification, the judge must also be convinced in this regard and must be convinced of the rightness of your justification. Therefore, it is not correct to use a single template as an example of a name change lawsuit petition, and you can get help from our law office on this issue.

Name Change Case Fee

For a name change case, a fee and an advance on expenses must be paid to the court cashier. Fees are collected in accordance with the Law on Fees and current tariffs for each lawsuit filed, except for exceptions. In addition, an advance on expenses is collected in order to carry out the work and transactions in the pen, especially postage costs for notifications. Since these amounts will change every year, you can learn the current figures from our law office.

In addition, there is an attorney’s fee that you need to pay to your lawyer for the name change case, and this depends on the agreement between you and your lawyer, not to be below the current attorney’s minimum fee tariff. You can call us to find out the current attorney’s fee requested by our law firm for the name change case.

How long does a name change case take?

Although the name change case depends on the province you are in and the workload of the court where you filed your case, it is finalised within an average period of 6-8 months. With the finalisation of the case, it is registered to be notified to the Population Directorate with the writ written by the Court. After your civil registration is updated, you can apply to the Population Directorate in person and request a new identity card to be issued to you.

In the event of a name change, this shall also result in the change of the mother or father’s name in the civil registration of the children of the person whose name has changed. In the case of a change of surname, if the person is married, the surname of his/her spouse and the surname of his/her minor children are also changed.

Name Correction Requests without Litigation

With the Provisional Article 11 added to the Population Services Law first in 2017 and then in 2019, it is now possible for some name or surname correction/change requests to be made by the District Governorships without the need to file a lawsuit for a certain period of time and without a court decision.

TEMPORARY ARTICLE 11- (Additional: 6/12/2019-7196/61 Art.)
(1) In writing to the civil registry office where the person’s place of residence is located within three years
Provided that he/she applies in the 3rd article of the Surname Law dated 21/6/1934 and numbered 2525
The surnames contrary to the article and the names and surnames that have spelling and spelling errors or changes in meaning due to not using correction marks, that are not in accordance with general morality, that are considered to be ridiculous by the society, may be changed by the decision of the provincial or district administrative board for one time only, without a court decision. The decision of the provincial and district administrative boards is final. If the person whose surname is changed is a man, the surnames of his wife, if any, and his children who are minors on the date of application shall also be corrected. If the surname of the woman whose surname is changed is a woman, if she has minor children out of wedlock with her, their surnames shall also be corrected. The President of the Republic is authorised to extend the period specified in this article up to one times

These requests can now be made by the civil registry offices themselves as a result of the applications to be made to the District Governorships without the need to apply to the court. Here, the criteria of the rightfulness of the person’s request and the fact that this correction is not in the nature of a name change are taken into consideration.

For example, the last letters in names such as Kürşad and Hamid were corrected to Kürşat and Hamit in order to be more suitable for the new Turkish and to correct spelling mistakes because they were difficult to understand when spoken.

The General Directorate of Population and Citizenship Affairs shared the following statistical data in 2022:

With the application, which has been in force for about 5 years, reducing the workload of the courts and providing convenience to our citizens, 298 thousand 670 people have changed their surnames and 134 thousand 818 people have had their names corrected. Within the scope of applications made to district population directorates throughout the country; 946 Yunis became Yunus, 588 Ümüt became Ümit, 770 Memet became Mehmet, 340 Abubekir became Ebubekir, 298 Ferat became Ferhat, 218 Çoşkun became Coşkun. In women; 971 Sümeyya became Sümeyye, 276 Keziban became Kezban, 592 Firdes became Firdevs, 441 Sadet became Saadet. The most corrected surnames were; 6,550 Top, 3,531 Koyun, 2,432 Satılmış, 2,115 Çoşkun, 2,017 Çakal, 1,830 Deli, 1,729 Uğuz, 1,707 İşik, 1,695 Çıplak, 1,442 Kör.

Attention: A request for a name change on the grounds that you are known by a name different from the name written in the civil registry can only be made with a court decision. Name change/name correction requests without filing a lawsuit and without a court decision do not cover these changes.

This content has been automatically translated into English from the Turkish original.