While I was at my duty place in Bangalore, My father in law, mother in law and my wife( only kid) on leave while travelling from Chennai met with a fatal car fire accident in mid of 2018. The police closed the case on pretext on an accidental fire accident even though they initially suspected suicide because we were married only for few months ie 5 months and have no kids of our own. In event of such simultaneous death, while I was away greaving the personal losses and inquiries, the father-in-law's brothers and sisters and mother of my mother in law have quickly filed a case seeking legal heir as they are the only heir in class 2 type as specified by them. The property documents are in the sole name of my father in law without any mention of wife or daughter, secondly, the home loan also is only under his name without any CO applicant and nominee. Also, my father in law seems to have a few financial debts. Since I feared to be engrossed in a legal battle I prefered to keep myself away from any property issue, but lately, I have come to know that they have sought legal heir in my name( of my wife) and are trying to frame the financial debts of my father in law on me. Before I undertake any legal action I want to clarify the following My questions are:- 1. In case of similar simultaneous death, what is the course of legal heir followed.? 2. As husband don’t I have a single share in my father in law property ? 3. Am I to pay any financial debts incl the loan as being son in law? 4. What is the clause in which I can be disqualified from been a legal heir, if applicable? 5. what is the legal course of action I should adopt?
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This matter is contestable as a legal here you can claim the property and at the same time as your claim in the property you have to claim the liabilities and you have to payout the loans taken by your father in law as your wife where's the legal hair to her father and in case of the death of your wife all the property of your father will pass 2 you
You are not liable to pay any financial debts of your father in law if you have not inherited any property
2) your liability is limited to extent of your inheritance
3) you have no share in the property as your wife died issueless
Section 15 of the Hindu Succession Act which states that in cases where a female dies intestate then the property she had inherited from her father or mother does not devolve upon the husband or his issues but upon the heirs of the deceased’s father.
son in law shall be liable to pay only such portion of the father's debts as is attributable to the assets inherited by him.
1. Under the narrated circumstances, if no class-1 legal heir is alive, then the spouse and children of the deceased persons are considered and if there are no child/children and spouse, then class-2 legal heirs are considered.
2. Since you are legal heir to your wife, you are entitled to equal share in the property, alongwith class-2 legal heirs.
3. You are not obligated to pay towards financial debts of your father-in-law, if you do not accept share out of his property.
4. Since no one in your wife's family is alive and moreover your father-in-law died intestate, you, as her husband, are entitled upto the share of your deceased wife.
5. Have discussion with the class-2 legal heirs (your deceased father-in-law's brothers and sisters) regarding your entitled share, and stake your claim. If you don't get positive response from them, send a legal notice for partition and separate possession of your share in the property. Finally if the matter is not settled amicably, file a case for declaration, partition and separate possession of the property by metes and bounds.
1. Did your deceased wife leave any son or daughter? In that case he/she will inherit the said property left by your deceased father in law. Otherwise, your deceased father-in-law's brothers and sisters become the class -II legal heirs of his said property.
2. You have no share on your father in law's property though you have the 1st claim on your deceased wife's property alongwith her children but in tye instant case the propery does not belong to your wife.
3. He who will inherit your deceased father in law's property shall have to bear the liability to repqay his debts to the extent of the value of the property inherited by him.
4. It is not that you will be disqualified. You are required to be qualified to be the legal heir of your deceased father in law which you are not.
5. If your deceased wife has left any children, he/she shall have to claim his/her share on the said property and contest the petition filed by those people claiming their inheritance on the properties of your deceased father in law.
Yes you need to apply for legal heir certificate or succession Certificate as per the nature of transfer
The property of the father in law would go to his wife and children and in case the wife dies it will go to their children and in case the wife dies before the parents you cannot claim a share in the property as you have no children.
The relatives have a share in the property but they also have a share in the debts too.
Therefore they are playing fraud upon you and you should report this to the authorities.
Regards
1. In your case there is no heir in Class 1 heir but there are heirs in Class 2. Class 2 heirs of your deceased father-in-law are his brother and sister who succeed equally.
2. Since you are not a heir to your father-in-law you do not have any share in his property.
3. You are not at all liable for the debts of your father-in-law as you do not succeed to his properties.
4. There is nothing you are required to do. No legal heir certificate can be issued in disregard of the Hindu Succession Act.
Hi
1) In the event of simultaneous death of many people belonging to same family and the difficult question of determining, for the purposes of distribution of assets, who will be entitled to property when family members die, it is proposition of law that younger person will be deemed to have survived the elder(i.e whoever who is older will be deemed to have died first).
2) So in your case, it will be legally presumed that the father in law died first and subsequently your mother in law and thereafter your wife.
3) Technically you will be the legal heir of properties owned by your father in law (by virtue of simultaneous death and you being a class I heir of your wife)
4) Once you succeed as a legal heir to the assets owned by your father in law, you are liable to pay the financial debts of your father in law. There are no technical or legal issues for you to succeed to your in laws properties.
5) Please note that if and only if you inherit properties from your father in law, you are liable to pay the debts of your father in law and only to the extent of properties that are vested in you as his legal heir. Your personal income or properties are not liable for debts incurred by your father in law.
6) You should file for letter of administration of properties and also succession certificate based on FIR, Death certificates of your in-laws and your wife and your marriage certificate ,
Hope this information is useful
1. In absence of class 1 legal heirs, class 2 legal heirs will inherit
2. No
3. No
4. Son in law is not a legal heir of father in law. But husband is legal heir of wife
5. Nothing
See you are legal heir of the property following the death of the family, You shall have share and you have debt liability to the extent you receive inheritance from father in law. You can file suit for claiming property and the debts against that property you receive can also be settled,
Your father in law's legal heir is your wife who is no more now, hence as her legal heir they try to implicate the loan or debts to fall on your shoulder, however if you avail his properties then you will be liable to repay his debts.
As husband of your deceased wife, you will become her legal heir hence her share of property shall devolve on you.
If you avail his property then you will be liable to repay his loan
You can get away from this situation if you do not want any share in the proeprty.
Discuss with your advocate in detail about this.
