Determination of the participation claim in case of divorce due to adultery or attempted murder

The Turkish Civil Code, which entered into force on January 1, 2002, adopted the regime of participation in acquired property as the legal property regime. Conversely, if no contract has been drawn up, liquidation is carried out in accordance with the participation regime upon termination of the property regime. According to Article 236/1 of the Turkish Civil Code (TCC), each spouse or their heirs are entitled to half of the other spouse's residual value. Furthermore, the second paragraph of the article stipulates that in cases where a divorce is granted on the grounds of adultery or attempted murder, the court may equitably reduce or completely eliminate the at-fault spouse's share of the residual value. The law grants the judge discretion in introducing this provision, and does not specify the criteria by which the spouse's share of the residual value will be reduced or eliminated. However, the criteria for determining these criteria are influenced by scholarly opinions and the precedents of the Court of Cassation. In this thesis, the concepts of participation claim and residual value within the scope of the basic concepts of the property regime, adultery and attempt on life as grounds for divorce will be examined in detail; the calculation of the residual value and participation claim in the context of the termination of the property regime will be explained and the scope of application of the regulation of Article 236/2 of the Turkish Civil Code, which constitutes the main subject of the thesis, and the disputes that arise with its application will be explained in the light of the opinions in the doctrine and the established decisions of the Court of Cassation.