Fethi Günalp

Fethi Günalp is a senior partner at Öztenay Law Firm and leads the firm's family law and private client practice, covering divorce and financial arrangements, children matters, wills, probate and the administration of estates.

Practice

His family work covers divorce and separation before the Family Court, financial settlements including cases where assets sit in more than one country, arrangements for children, and prenuptial and cohabitation agreements. A recurring theme is the international family: a foreign spouse resident in Northern Cyprus, a marriage celebrated abroad, or proceedings already under way in another jurisdiction that affect property here.

On the private client side he advises foreign property owners on succession — in particular on making a Northern Cyprus will that deals with local assets without disturbing a will made at home — and acts for executors and families in obtaining the grant needed to deal with TRNC assets and in transferring or selling inherited property.

Approach

Family matters arrive at a point when clients are least able to absorb complexity, so the work is to reduce it: say plainly what the realistic range of outcomes is, what each route costs, and how long it takes. Where a negotiated settlement is available on terms better than the litigated alternative, he says so. Matters are handled discreetly and correspondence goes only where the client directs.

Languages

Turkish and English.