International family-law consultation · illustrative scene
01
Begin with a short chronology
A useful first consultation starts with a chronology rather than a collection of legal labels. Record the marriage date and place, both spouses’ nationalities, current residences, last shared home and any separation date. Add existing court cases, decisions and dates of service. Distinguish what you know from what you have only been told.
02
Explain what needs to happen first
Your immediate priority may be responding to a claim, arranging contact with a child, securing maintenance or using a foreign divorce decision in Türkiye. Identify each desired outcome separately. A lawyer can then distinguish the divorce itself from interim measures, civil-registration steps and financial claims. A single foreign judgment may not resolve all of these issues.
03
Plan representation and attendance
Discuss whether the case can be conducted through a case-specific power of attorney and which steps may require personal participation. For consensual divorce under Article 166(3), the judge must hear both spouses personally. Before booking travel or a notarial appointment, agree the procedural route and the wording needed for the authority granted.
04
Leave with concrete questions answered
Ask which court and law may apply, how the other spouse will receive formal notice, which information is missing and how progress will be communicated. A realistic initial assessment explains dependencies rather than promising a completion date. Bring any existing official decision in its complete form; the first contact need not wait until every possible document has been collected.
05
Before the next step
Prepare a one-page timeline and list of existing proceedings.
Separate immediate needs from final financial and parenting arrangements.
Discuss representation, attendance and international service.
Practical guides for families across borders
For clients in the UK, the United States and other English-speaking countries, familiar labels can conceal different legal effects. A final divorce order, a financial order and a parenting arrangement should be identified separately. The place of marriage alone does not decide jurisdiction or the applicable law. Planning begins with the result required in Türkiye and the result required abroad.
Legal sources
The exact document list and foreign-authority practice must be rechecked on the transaction date.
Move from a general question to a workable plan: prepare your consultation, write an international settlement and identify the property issues that need their own claim. These guides address Turkish proceedings; a foreign court or authority may require a separate local assessment.
