Change of Household in Marriage Will Remain as is
Official titleDecision of the Constitutional Court Dated 4/6/2026 and Numbered E: 2025/216, K: 2026/128
The statutory provision stipulating that the civil registration record of a married woman shall be transferred to her husband's household was found to be in compliance with the constitution by the Constitutional Court (AYM), and the request for annulment was rejected.
Details of the Regulation
Istanbul 14th Civil Court of First Instance requested the annulment of the provision in paragraph 2 of Article 23 of the Population Services Statute No. 5490, which makes it mandatory to transfer the civil registration record of a married woman to her husband's household, on the reasoning that it is contrary to the principles of equality and the protection of private life in the constitution. The majority of the AYM stated that rather than being a structure that interferes with the fundamental rights of persons, this regulation is a technical method aimed at the state's objective of maintaining orderly civil registration records.
In the decision, it was emphasized that this registration transaction does not have a determinative effect on the woman's legal status or social identity, and that it is merely in the nature of an administrative relocation. Consequently, it was concluded that the existing practice does not constitute a violation of Articles 10 (Equality) and 41 (Protection of the Family) of the constitution.
However, 5 members (Engin Yıldırım, Rıdvan Güleç, Yusuf Şevki Hakyemez, Selahaddin Menteş, and Kenan Yaşar) issued dissenting opinions against the decision. In the reasoning of the dissenting opinions, it was stated that the regulation constitutes gender-based discrimination, places the man in the position of a 'fixed center' and the woman as a 'transported object', and is contrary to the individual-based registration system in the modern concept of law.
Questions You Might Have
- With this decision, will women be able to remain in their own civil registration households upon marriage?
- No, since the AYM rejected the request for annulment, the existing statutory obligation (transfer to the spouse's household) continues.
- Was the decision taken unanimously?
- No, it was taken by a majority vote; 5 members dissented from the decision, arguing that this situation constitutes gender discrimination.
- Why did the court not annul it?
- Because it regarded this transaction not as a change in legal status, but merely as a technical method in the state's record-keeping system.
Key Terms
- İtiraz Yolu
- A court's referral of a statutory provision to the AYM, considering it contrary to the constitution, which it will apply in an ongoing lawsuit.
- Esasın İncelenmesi
- The court's detailed examination passing the formal requirements of the case file and addressing the merits, that is, the substance of the lawsuit.
- Karşı Oy Gerekçesi
- The text in which the members who do not agree with the majority decision explain with legal grounds why they do not agree.
Where we posted this
Follow Turkish legal developments
REGAS analyzed all 35 items in the Official Gazette of 10 August 2026; we published only 4 of them here.
REGAS summarizes every change in the Turkish Official Gazette in plain language and notifies you.
The REGAS app is currently Turkish-only. If you would like English in the app, the best way to make it happen is to support the developer: get the app and just say so.
REGAS Commentary
This decision shows that the demand of women to possess their own independent civil registration household within the marital union has not found favor before the AYM for now. Despite the 'equality'-based objections of women's organizations and academic circles, the AYM prioritized the administrative conveniences of the traditional 'family register' system. The practice of automatic household change following marriage will remain as is before the citizen.