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We owned a property at bangalore.It belonged to my great grand father.My great grand father passed and he aquired it through his effort.My grand father has executed will as if it is self acquired and has executed sale deed without taking concents of his sons nor daughters nor submitted the will and has registered it.Can we contest?What has to be done?
Asked 9 years ago in Property Law
Religion: Hindu

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24 Answers

The property of your grand father is self-acquired property.

In such cases the owner can dispose of the property in any manner he likes for which he need not take consent for his children or other legal heirs.

So the Will in your case is very much valid and deprived legal heirs can not challenge unless it is otherwise invalid like if not properly executed or executed under force , coercion or undue influence.

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
22824 Answers
488 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Hi,

You question is not clear.Whose will you're talking about is not clear again. Be specific with your question. Will does not require registration or signature from family members.

Rajni Sinha
Advocate, Mumbai
425 Answers
39 Consultations

4.6 on 5.0

1) when did your great grand father die?

2) was your grand father only legal heir? did your grand father have any siblings?

3) if your grand father has executed will it would take effect on his demise

4) during his lifetime if your grand father has executed sale deed you should move court to set aside sale deed on grounds that it is ancestral property

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94723 Answers
7535 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1) if the property was sold in 1989what were other legal heirs doing for 26 years ?

2) if will was forged grand aunt should have filed suit for partition

3) it appears that legal heirs were fully aware of the sale yet did not take any steps for 26 years

4) if property was sought to be sold by auction your grand aunt and others should have moved court and obtained a stay from high court

5) after 26 years it is doubtful that court would grant you any reliefs

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94723 Answers
7535 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1) you have to explain the delay of 26 years in moving court

2)it has to mentioned that family members became aware of fraudulent sale of property only few days back

3) the issue would also be will was forged by your grand father why did your grand aunt not challenge the will ? If great grand father executed will it would be self acquired property of grand father

4) why did grand aunt not claim her share in property on her father demise

5) if family members keep on sleeping for so many years court will not grant any relief unless court is satisfied about reasons for delay in moving court

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94723 Answers
7535 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

I must say that your case required minute study of al material documents and connected deed. The information supplied online is not enough to give a proper and resolute answer.

I would suggest you to meet a local lawyer with all papers.

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
22824 Answers
488 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

The property purchased by your great grandfather, upon his death fell into the hands of your grandfather by the operation of a Will. This confers title to your grandfather and he becomes an absolute owner of the property. Subsequently if he had bequeathed the property through a Will or had sold some of the properties to a third person, it was his right over it to do so hence he need not obtain consent of his children to transact with the property in the manner he desired and decided to.

Once the property fell into the hands of your grandfather, it loses the nature ancestral property, therefore you cannot claim coparcenary rights in it considering it as ancestral property.

Any legal battles will ultimately result into loss, so if you can find a solution other than legal, i.e., by mutual talks involving all family members, you can hope for some respite.

From your contents here the above will be the opinion in case you need more light on it, you must consult a local lawyer with all relevant documents/papers and seek his opinion and advise in person.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84925 Answers
2196 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

First of all you should mind your language while addressing a lawyer in such public forums. What do you mean by asking me to advice sensibly?, Do you think what ever advised was non-sense? You cannot misbehave with the lawyers this way, I condemn your language and approach. I will prefer to keep away from answering your question in future if you dont correct yourself.

Giving you a last chance, I would answer your question as herein under:

Your subsequent query do not extract any meaning and it appears that you are expressing only your feelings without understanding the law involved in it. All those questions raised by you can be put forth in the court during trial of the case which you intend to file and they cannot find an answer from the lawyer answering your query. For your information, a Will can be executed by a testator bequeathing his self acquired properties and the properties in which he has absolute title in favor of anyone of his choice. The fact that he has a living wife or another daughter cannot stand as an obstacle to the Will he may execute as per his choice. Law cannot question his rights. The Will shall come into force upon the death of the testator, if you suspect the Will itself, you can file a suit to declare the sale deed executed on the basis of a Will prepared under suspicious circumstances as null and void. Even then it can be contested by the grand aunt who is reportedly alive on this date, while seeking her share in the property and not beyond that.

Under the above situation, the grandfather being a legal heir of his father he has full rights to sell his share out of his father's property inherited by him after his death, therefore he becomes absolute owner of that share of property and for that sale he need not obtain consent from anyone even his children. There is no coparcenary rights to his children because as far as they are concerned it will constitute as ancestral property.

If the children of the grandfather do not have rights over the property, the grandchildren automatically disqualifies for any such right. So instead of getting confused or misunderstanding the law by reading between the lines, consult a local lawyer in person with all relevant papers and seek his advise to find some other way to retrieve the property, if possible.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84925 Answers
2196 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1) it has to be proved that will was forged .

2) was the will attested by 2 witnesses ?

3) you had stated that as per alleged will wherein your grand father was beneficiary your father had claimed he was absolute owner of the property .

4) it is not necessary that in will great grand father make great mother a beneficiary . he could have made grand father a sole benficary of the will

5) it is not necessary that grand aunt , great grand father will should sign as witnesses

6) witness can be even a neighbor or a friend .

7) on basis of will mutation of property should have been done in favour of grand father after issue of notice to all legal heirs .

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94723 Answers
7535 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1) You and other legal heirs have to move court to set aside auction of property by income tax authorities

2) you have to in the suit proceedings explain delay of 26 years in moving court

3) preliminary objection would be taken by defendants that claim is barred by limitation

4) as on date there is no ancestral property . It was sold rightly or wrongly 26 years back

5) you will also have to prove will was forged

6) only if you succeed in the suit and sale is set aside and possession delivered can you partition Said property

7) suit would take years to be disposed of

8) only if you have deep pockets and can afford litigation should you file any suit

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94723 Answers
7535 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

Your question itself has a legal answer in it. The property was purchased by your great grandfather and the same was sold by his son on the basis of the property bequeathed to him through a Will by your great grandfather alleged to have been executed in the year 1971 and he died in the year 1972. You also say that the Will was witnessed by two persons. How do you say that the Will was fake because it was in the year 1989 that the property was disposed based on the title acquired by your grandfather through the said Will?, what was your aunt doing at that time ? She could have protested, objected and approached the court for cancellation of the sale deed or to nullify the Will alleged to have been fabricated, whereas, the only person who had right over the intestate property then chose to remain silent, it means she has accepted the Will to be true and chose to stay away. Thus the property does not acquire the status of intestate, therefore it cannot acquire ancestral status as well, now.

In my opinion you are trying to wage a losing battle by over reading (misinterpreting) the law and its provisions in this aspect or appear to be greedy to grab the property which never belonged to you or in which you do not have any right.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84925 Answers
2196 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

The property does not comes under the heading of ancestral property. Hence claiming a share as a coparcenary rights will not be maintainable in law or facts.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84925 Answers
2196 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. If the property was acquired by your great grandfather from his own funds then he alone was at liberty to sell it in entirety to anyone without taking the consent of his sons or anyone else in the family.

2. Unless your grandfather was the only child of his father he had no right to sell the entire property without obtaining the consent of his siblings. The will made by him can be challenged by the other surviving heirs in the court if it has been made in a manner which deprives them of their share in the property.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. The will was not required to be sworn before the magistrate.

2. The will made in 1989 can be challenged by the surviving heirs in the court if it has deprived them of their lawful share in the property.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. The will can be challenged in and struck down by the court as illegal.

2. If the will is read down as illegal all the heirs would get an equal share in the property.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. Initially you have said that your great grandfather acquired the property through his own efforts whereas in your subsequent thread you have stated that your great grandfather owned this property through his father. You must understand that these are two diametrically opposite statements carrying different legal import.

2. If the property was owned by your great grandfather then you or your father as his siblings can challenge the gift in the court on the ground that it defeats their lawful share in the property.

3. The absence of division is not a ground which placed any fetter on the right of your grandfather to make a will of the property.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. You are again and again making statements which are contradictory. I have extracted such statements in your query "The property belongs to my great grand father. My grand father has manupulated the will like done by his dad. The whole property belongs to my great grand father where in there are valid documents to prove for. My great grand dad owned this property through his father."

If the property was acquired by your great grandfather from his father then on what basis have you in the beginning of your query claimed that the property belongs to your great grandfather? What manipulation has been done by your great grandfather? It seems that you are either confused or not able to articulate yourself.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1)you have to file suit to set aside sale of property on grounds that will of great grand father was forged

2) delay in moving court of 26 years has to be explained

3) only if sale of property has been set aside can you partition the property among legal heirs

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94723 Answers
7535 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

First of all it is very clear that you do not understand law but insist a reply in your taste which is not legally maintainable.

Understand the things in the following lines properly"

The self acquired property of your great grandfather fell into the hands of your grandfather by the operation of a testamentary Will reported to have been executed by the testator and there upon the beneficiary sold the property to some third person as an absolute owner. The only person who had rights to object the genuineness of the Will was his sibling, i.e., your grandaunt. She never raised objections then nor till this date, therefore the execution of sale of the property acquired through operation of a Will has been admitted by the person who was the only survivor to your great grandfather to protest or make any objections to i, if any. Even otherwise she cannot object to the sale of entire property, she was entitled to only half the share in it. Therefore if she has a claim for half a share in the property, it is deemed to be an oral partition between them which clearly extinguished the term called 'ancestral'

The children of your grandfather cannot claim a share out of the share in the property that was sold by your grandfather because they do not constitute as coparceners. Thus if they are not entitled to claim a share in it, the next generation, i.e., you and your siblings sadly are not entitled to any share out of your father's so called share which was not there.

The Will whether forgery or fake cannot be disputed by you at this stage because it was enforced in the year 1989 and at that time the only person who should have objected was your grand aunt who has not done it till date and it is very badly barred by limitation.

Therefore in my opinion, you do not have anything to claim in the by gone history of the property that was owned by your great grand father which was sold by his son and legal heir very long back even when it had not acquired its ancestral status.

Do not expect lawyers to give a misleading reply just to appease you or suiting to your taste and wrong understanding of law or misinterpreting it.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84925 Answers
2196 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1) your grand aunt and others should first file a suit to set aside sale of the property on the grounds that grand father had no powers to sell the property on basis of forged will .

2) in the event you file suit for partition only court will raise the issue as to whether you have challenged the sale of property in 1989 and the forged will of your great grand father .

3) in the suit for partition filed by you to claim your share you should seek declaration that sale of property is null and void and seek permanent injunction restraining purchasers from creating third party rights in respect of plaintiff share of properties

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94723 Answers
7535 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. You have stated that the will was made when the property was sold in 1989. This cannot be accepted on the face value as after the sale of the property the seller ceases to be the owner of it. Unless the testator is the owner of the property he cannot will it. The will cannot be valid for time subsequent to the sale by your grandfather.

2. You have stated "Will came into existence in the year 1989 when the sale of property was done which was framed by my grand father like done by his father who apparently is my great grand father.Will is found forged and it is created as if done when my great grand father was alive." It seems that what you want to convey is that your grandfather forged the will of your great grandfather to inherit his property and then sold it, but due to improper use of words by you, such as referring to your grandfather as the sibling of your great grandfather, it became confounding throughout.

3. Has the will been probated? Has the will been registered?

4. Any of the legal heirs of your great grandfather can, subject to the answers to the above questions, move to court and file for partition to cull out his/her share on the ground that it is not a free disposition by your great grandfather.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

A prosecution for forgery could have been initiated only against your grandfather who is since deceased.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. The will of your great grandfather, which according to you has been forged by your grandfather, has to be challenged.

2. The will does not become illegal merely because the partition had not been made. The only legal ground on which you can challenge the will is that it is a product of forgery committed by your grandfather.

3. Any one in the second, third or fourth generation (including you) is at liberty to file for partition to cull out his/her share in the property.

4. Do not delay moving to court as there is already a delay of more than 25 years which may impair your legal claim in the court in as much as you have to impeach third party rights.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

I wish I refrain from answering the adamant queryist anymore to his queries.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84925 Answers
2196 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

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