What is a Family Home?
Although a family home is not defined in our law, if we were to define it based on the rationale behind the article and relevant Supreme Court decisions, it would be: “A place where spouses carry out all their life activities, shape their lives accordingly, experience both good and bad days, and which is filled with memories.” “A place used by spouses for regular residence, where they concentrate their life activities.” As can be seen, the common point in all definitions is the element of continuous residence in a specific place. Therefore, places such as “summer houses, farmhouses, mountain houses, timeshares,” etc., will not be considered family residences. The family home refers to the single residence where a couple married by official marriage live permanently. Whether one or both spouses are the owner or tenant of this residence is not important in terms of the space acquiring the status of a ‘family home’.
Protection of the Family Residence and Family Residence Annotation
One of the provisions in our law for the protection of the family residence, due to its material and moral importance, is the annotation of the family residence. The literal meaning of the term “notation” is “to explain, to separate,” and as a legal term, it means “the recording of personal rights, transfer restrictions, and temporary registration in the land registry.” With the family residence notation, the spouse who is not the owner of the immovable property used as the family residence will also have the right to decide on the protection of the residence.