Suretyship (personal guarantee)

Under Turkish law, suretyship is a contract by which the surety undertakes personal liability towards the creditor if the principal debtor fails to perform. The surety's liability is accessory: if the principal debt is invalid or extinguished, the suretyship falls with it.

To protect sureties, the law imposes strict validity requirements. The contract must be in writing, and the maximum amount of liability and the date must be written in the surety's own hand. A married person may, as a rule, give suretyship only with the written consent of their spouse. Missing any of these elements renders the undertaking invalid.

In ordinary suretyship the creditor must first pursue the principal debtor, whereas in joint suretyship the surety can be approached directly. A surety who pays is subrogated to the creditor's rights and may seek recourse against the debtor.