• How can I get an impartial estimator of assets that our father left us?

There is a property dispute between me and my brother about assets that our father left us, and the will is invalid due to his mental illness.

How do I ascertain the actual monetary value of all the assets (properties and commercial buildings), by someone impartial, so that the properties can be divided in half between the both of us?
Asked 5 years ago in Property Law
Religion: Hindu

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11 Answers

Get valuation of assets done by government approved valuer

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94518 Answers
7485 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Take help of an expert and professional property valuer.

There are Government Registered Valuers, who estimate the value for immovable properties

Vibhanshu Srivastava
Advocate, Lucknow
9588 Answers
303 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

either you or your brother can appoint any professional valuer, either private or on panel of the government

even if your brother appoints a valuer, there wont be any chance of any foul play

why - because he would obviously want the valuation on the higher side - as both you and your brother have disregarded the Will and have agreed to divide proceeds equally

so your brother or even you would not want or influence the valuer to value the properties at a lesser price

both of you would want the valuer to value the properties at its fair price - i,e the highest price which the properties can fetch

Yusuf Rampurawala
Advocate, Mumbai
7483 Answers
79 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

File for partition before the court and pray before court to appoint valuer to make a valuation report of all the assets based on same the property can be devided.

Or if everything is amicable settling appoint a government approved valuation expert for a report and then you may make and register a partition deed.

Shubham Jhajharia
Advocate, Ahmedabad
25514 Answers
179 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Hello,

Government has approved number of valuer in all the cities.

Get in touch with one of them and get the property valued.

Regards

Anilesh Tewari
Advocate, New Delhi
18077 Answers
377 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1) You have to get valued of property from valuer who works for this as property valuation and distribute property among both brothers equally.

Ganesh Kadam
Advocate, Pune
12910 Answers
253 Consultations

4.9 on 5.0

property cannot be sold until and unless you obtain a certificate from competent medical authority to issue a certificate of his unsoundness.

Chief medical officer can issue such certificate.

if your father has any other Class-I legal heir then there consent/no objection will also be required for disposing off the father's property.

You can apply for appointment as manager for management of property of your brother before District Court where your brother ordinarily resides. The district court then order for investigation regarding mental status of your brother and after obtaining investigation report the district court appoint you as manager to manage the property of your brother. However for the purpose of sale the permission of district court is necessary. After obtaining requisite permission you can sell the property of person who is unsound mind

Mohammed Mujeeb
Advocate, Hyderabad
19299 Answers
32 Consultations

4.7 on 5.0

Get hold of a government approved property valuator who has good reviews.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. Apply to local Civil Court, with the matter and request for court appointed "Govt. Valuer" for submitting value report to the court, which will be final for all futuristic disputes.

2. Private Valuer also can be appointed BUT his report will not have legally enforceable value.

Keep Smiling .... Hemant Agarwal

Hemant Agarwal
Advocate, Mumbai
5612 Answers
25 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Dear Sir,

You make use of following settled law of the land as pronounced by Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, various High Courts and circulars of the State govt

WILL PROVING BURDEN -

Section 61 in The Indian Succession Act, 1925

61 Will obtained by fraud, coercion or importunity. —A Will or any part of a Will, the making of which has been caused by fraud or coercion, or by such importunity as takes away the free agency of the testator, is void. Illustrations

(i) A, falsely and knowingly, represents to the testator, that the testator's only child is dead, or that he has done some undutiful act and thereby induces the testator to make a will in his, A's favour; such Will has been obtained by fraud, and is invalid.

(ii) A, by fraud and deception, prevails upon the testator to bequeath a legacy to him. The bequest is void.

(iii) A, being a prisoner by lawful authority, makes his Will. The Will is not invalid by reason of the imprisonment.

(iv) A, threatens to shoot B, or to burn his house or to cause him to be arrested on a criminal charge, unless he makes a bequest in favour of C. B, in consequence, makes a bequest in favour of C. The bequest is void, the making of it having been caused by coercion.

(v) A, being of sufficient intellect, if undisturbed by the influence of others, to make a Will yet being so much under the control of B that he is not a free agent, makes a Will dictated by B. It appears that he would not have executed the Will but for fear of B. The Will is invalid.

Section 63 in The Indian Succession Act, 1925

63 Execution of unprivileged Wills. —Every testator, not being a soldier employed in an expedition or engaged in actual warfare, 12 [or an airman so employed or engaged,] or a mariner at sea, shall execute his Will according to the following rules:—

(a) The testator shall sign or shall affix his mark to the Will, or it shall be signed by some other person in his presence and by his direction.

(b) The signature or mark of the testator, or the signature of the person signing for him, shall be so placed that it shall appear that it was intended thereby to give effect to the writing as a Will.

(c) The Will shall be attested by two or more witnesses, each of whom has seen the testator sign or affix his mark to the Will or has seen some other person sign the Will, in the presence and by the direction of the testator, or has received from the testator a personal acknowledgement of his signature or mark, or the signature of such other person; and each of the witnesses shall sign the Will in the presence of the testator, but it shall not be necessary that more than one witness be present at the same time, and no particular form of attestation shall be necessary.

Section 68 in The Indian Evidence Act, 1872

68. Proof of execution of document required by law to be attested.—If a document is required by law to be attested, it shall not be used as evidence until one attesting witness at least has been called for the purpose of proving its execution, if there be an attesting witness alive, and subject to the process of the Court and capable of giving evidence: 1[Provided that it shall not be necessary to call an attesting witness in proof of the execution of any document, not being a Will, which has been registered in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Registration Act, 1908 (16 of 1908), unless its execution by the person by whom it purports to have been executed is specifically denied.]

Suspicious circumstances-

As mentioned above that in proof of execution of will, a very heavy burden lies on the propounder to prove the due execution of will and to remove any suspicious circumstances surrounding the execution of particular will in question. Over the period of time judicial pronouncements provide a detail list of these suspicious circumsnatcs, not exhaustive though. These suspicious circumstances are:

i. The signature of the testator may be very shaky and doubtful or not appear to be his usual signature.

ii. The condition of the testator's mind may be very feeble and debilitated at the relevant time.

iii. The disposition may be unnatural, improbable or unfair in the light of relevant circumstances like exclusion of or absence of adequate provisions for the natural heirs without any reason.

iv. The dispositions may not appear to be the result of the testator's free will and mind.

v. The propounder takes a prominent part in the execution of the Will.

vi. The testator used to sign blank papers.

vii. The Will did not see the light of the day for long.

viii. Incorrect recitals of essential facts.

Other infirmities-

Apart from the suspicious circumstances to which we have just referred, in some cases the wills propounded disclose another infirmity. Propounders themselves take a prominent part in the execution of the wills which confer on them substantial benefits. If it is shown that the propounder has taken a prominent part in the execution of the will and has received substantial benefit under it, that itself is generally treated as a suspicious circumstance attending the execution of the will and the propounder is required to remove the said suspicion by clear and satisfactory evidence. In such circumstances “the test of the satisfaction of judicial conscience” becomes essential. The test merely emphasizes that, in determining the question as to whether an instrument produced before the court is the last will of the testator, the court is deciding a solemn question and it must be fully satisfied that it had been validly executed by the testator who is no longer alive. It is obvious that for deciding material questions of fact which arise in applications for probate or in actions on wills, no hard and fast or inflexible rules can be laid down for the appreciation of the evidence. It may, however, be stated generally that a propounder of the will has to prove the due and valid execution of the will and that if there are any suspicious circumstances surrounding the execution of the will the propounder must remove the said suspicions from the mind of the court by cogent and satisfactory evidence.

The author of this Article is Nidhi Soni who can be reached at [deleted]

Netravathi Kalaskar
Advocate, Bengaluru
4952 Answers
27 Consultations

4.8 on 5.0

You can have the property assessed by an assessor or an engineer, have his report, confirm the market value of the properties, compile the details, sit and talk to your brother about this and arrive at an amicable and mutually agreed partition as per the data in your hand,

if he is not agreeing for the proposals made before him, you may better file a partition suit before court seeking partition of properties by metes and bounds and good and bad soil, get it divided into two, you can be given with separate possession of your share.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84711 Answers
2172 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

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