Hello, First of all thank you kaanoon.com & lawyers for facilitating such a great platform. I am an NRI and planning to buy a commercial property in Hyderabad City. The property owner is deceased and left a will detailing the distribution of property among his wife, 3 daughters & 2 sons. The will is not registered and written on a plain paper with Testator & Witnesses signatures. The owner died in 2013 and the property is still in his name. I have checked link documents and other registered documents and they seem legitimate. I want to know whether there any other legalities/documents I need to check before going for this property. Please clarify. Thanks in advance.
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1) insist on probate of will
2) probate is judicial proof that will represents last testament of testator
3) probate should not take more than 6 months
4) based on probate passed by court property should be mutated in name of the legal heirs
5) then only purchase the property
1. The Will need not be registered and an unregistered Will is very much valid if it is validly executed which appears to be in your case.
2.However to give effect of Will it is incumbent on the beneficiaries of the Will to take Probate of the same.
3.Once Probate is obtained the validity of Will is established.
4.it is always advisable to get all the relevant papers checked by a lawyer so he can give proper opinion.
5. on the basis your information Icna advise this much.
Since said Will Deed is unregistered, need to cheque whether the will deed is genuine or no. Registration of will deed is not mandatary its optional. If link documents and encumbrance on property are ok, then better to get impounded said will deed before concerned district registrar by paying impounding duty charges. Documents to be checked are title deeds of the person on who's name the property is lying and as also death certificate. Aspect of whether said property is self acquired or ancestral also important.
1. The title of the property stands in the name of the deceased person.
2. The will has not yer been probated and without the grant of probate, will has no value more than a scrap paper.
3. Ask the seller to apply for and get the will probated first which will irrefutably establish the title of the property you intend to buy otherwise after the deal is over, a third party may appear to claim that he is also the legal heir of the deceased person having right on the said property.
4. After the ownership of the property is established, you can buy the said property and in the said sale deed try to get the signatures of other legal heirs as witnesses.
5. before buying also check the originals of the link deeds to ensure that the said property has not been mortgaged with any other Bank.
Thank you all for such a prompt answers. I have a followup question. - What if the bill is registered with the Sub-Registrar? Do I have to still probate the bill?
Probate is not mandatory in Hyderabad
2) however it is advisable to obtain probate of will
1. Will is not required to be registered to claim its validity.
2. With out grant of probate by the Court, will has no legal value.
3. Ask them to get the will probated first before entering i to any deal for selling the bequeathed property.
I want to know whether there any other legalities/documents I need to check before going for this property. Please clarify.
Besides Will, title documents, link documents, EC, tax receipts, mutation of revenue records, you need to obtain legal heirship certificate of the deceased to ascertain that if there are any other legal heirs or successors in interest to the deceased.
You may even issue a publication in the local newspaper in this regard, wait for 15 days to note if there are any rival claimants.
Above all you may obtain a legal opinion from a local lawyer before making a final decision.
I have a followup question.
- What if the bill is registered with the Sub-Registrar? Do I have to still probate the bill?
If it is a registered will, then you dont need to insist the vendor to get the will probated through court. The registration of a will would serve the purpose of probate of will.