Mr. A executed a will in 1988 and this will was NOT registered. All the properties mentioned in the will are self earned by Mr. A. Mr A had 3 sons and 3 daughters. In the will, he gave all the properties only to the sons nothing to the daughters. Mr. A died in 1989. One of the son Mr. B took the ownership of a property (registered the property) in 2001 as mentioned in the will using the unregistered will. There was no probate of the will and also there was no division of property documents among the children of Mr A. Mr B sold the property in 2006 to Mr. C Now i am planning to buy this property and i have below questions 1) Since the will was not registered, how can we say that the will was genuine? 2) Its been 30 years now after the will was executed, can some one reclaim the property from me in future stating the validity of the will? 3) What documents i need, to make sure in future there will be no issues related to Will of this property 4) Since it is more than 12 years after executing the will, can some one challenge the will now or in future? 5) Is it risky to buy this property?
1. Registration is not compulsory for will. Genuiness of will is not related to registration.
2. It depends on proving the will
3. It depends on any suit filed against you for challenging the will.
4. It can be challenged only if the knowledge of the will was not there to that person.
5. Yes someone can claim
1) title is not clear and marketable
2) on A demise his sons had equal share in property
3) B could not ha e sold property without consent of other legal heirs
4) there is no gift deed or relinquishment deed executed by other legal heirs
5) probate is judicial proof that will is genuine
6) other legal heirs can file suit to claim share in property
7) take the plea that they were not aware of fraudulent sale by B
To add more details. There are more properties on the will and all 3 sons have registered those properties as per the will to themselves. There is nothing willed to the daughters. The property has also been sold 2 more times after Mr. C. Is this still risky to buy? Also as a follow-up Mr. B had minor sons at the time of sale in 2006 and in sale deed he has signed on behalf of them as minor gaurdian. Should we be concerned as it is their grandfather's property.
It is not ancestral property as it was self acquired property of A
minor grand children have no share in property
titje is not clear and marketable as property was sold by B without consent of other legal heirs
dont purchase the property
1. Your query does not reveal whether the property in question had been bequeathed to B alone by Mr.A? Mr.A had bequeathed his property to his three sons. How did then B alone sold the property?
2. The share of B was not greater than 1/3rd in the properties of his father Mr.A. So B could not have sold the entire property unless the other two brothers either executed a release deed in his favour or a General Power of Attorney in his favour.
Actually, it should not be anyone's concern over the property because it's self owned by Mr. A and he has WILLED the property among 3 sons. Now the daughters should have take action against WILL at that time when their father was expired.
Still in the sell deed you can mention clause that if any daughters make litigation than seller will have to pay the amount.
1. Grand Father (GF) property is NOT classified as "ancestral property". Hence the Grand Children CANNOT stake claim /rights on the same, provided their own parents are alive. Probate of WILL becomes absolutely necessary in the event of disputes between the legal heir/s else not required.
2. IF original "ENTIRE" property was sold in an undivided condition without following "partition proceedings", THEN it is legally tenable. ELSE an undividied property can be sold in parts only after "partition proceedings".
3. IF daughter have not contested the WILL till date or have given their consent NOC to the brother for transfer and subsequent sale of GF's property, THEN it is legally tenable and said property can be purchased AFTER taking a "Title search report" thru a local lawyer dealing in property matters.
4. As a preemptive measure, take signatures of all brothers & sisters as "confirming & consenting parties" in the Sale Deed, alongwith an indemnity bond from all of them, to avoid any legal disputes at the hands of any of the legal heirs.
1. Registration of WILL is not compulsory. Even an unregistered WILL is legally valid if it is signed by 2 witnesses and the Testator was of sound mind and there was no threat of force, threat, coercion, etc., in bequeathing the property to anyone of his choice.
2. Since the WILL is executed more than 30 years ago, it's barred by limitation. It's difficult to challenge the WILL after the lapse of 30 years.
3. You should secure the original WILL of person "A", his death certificate, deed of his self acquired property, his family tree, khata certificate, sale deed of the property in favour of "C", etc.
4. Please refer to answer in Sl.No.2.
5. Please get the property papers verified by a Lawyer and obtain his opinion before proceeding.
6. As per your narration, "A" had self acquired this property and being an absolute owner of the self acquired property, "A" was within his legal rights to have bequeathed his self acquired properties to only his sons and none to his daughters.
7. In 2006, "B" sold the property even though he had minor children, since it's not ancestral property, the children of "B" did not have right over their father's self acquired property during the lifetime of "B", it's in order.
1. It is not mandatory in law to register the Will, hence there is no legal infirmity in it, however while enforcing the Will, the beneficiaries have to produce the no objection certificate executed by the remaining legal heirs of the deceased testator before the revenue department in order to transfer the revenue records of the property in favor of the beneficiaries. You may ascertain that whether the property was subsequently transferred in the names of the beneficiaries by the revenue department to be safe on that aspect.
2. The validity of the Will shall have to be challenged within a time stipulated and not after a passage of three decades time period.
3. All the documents related to this property namely revenue records, tax receipts, partition deeds among the beneficiaries, property title documents, encumbrance certificate and any other document as directed by your advocate.
4. See the answer to 2 above.
5. You obtain a proper legal opinion from an expert lawyer in the local before venturing into the purchase of this property.
Since the properties have been bequeathed on their sons names, they are the actual owners and not their wards.
The signature done on behalf of the minor son is only out of anxiety and not an incident as required by law.
Hence this signature is having no legal identity or validity.
In any case, you may obtain a proper legal opinion before purchasing the property.
1. Will is not required to be registered for claiming its authenticity/validity. Unregistered wills are also valid.
2. The will might be valid but the property has not been partitioned by the individual beneficiaries for whish the title of the said beneficiary can be challenged by others.
3. You should take signatures of all other beneficiaries of the said will on the will as consenting parties to make the deed safe from being challenged by any of them later on.
4. If the property is in a place where probate of a will is mandatory (like Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai) , then without probate, the will has value no more than a scrap paper. So, the will shall have to be probated. For delhi properties, the will is not required to be probated.
5. The title of 'B' in his said property is open to challenge. So, it will be prudent on your part to avoid buying the said property.
1. Al three brothers have registered their other properties without registering partition deed of their father's properties bequeathed to then through the said will.
2. They should at least register a MOU declaring that they had orally partitioned the willed properties of their father and got those properties registered in their names.
3. 'B''s sons whether minor or major, shall have nothing to do with their grand father's said property.
You need to challenge the will along with the cancellation of the sale deed executed for the said property
probate of will is important and if the property was sold by the legal heirs without the probate and proper execution of will then the other legal heirs at any time may challenge such transfers of property. Since in your case the will was not probated then the sisters can challenge. Please contact local advocate for more precise guidance..
A grandchild does not have any birth right in the self- acquired property.
There are a lot of risks that come with a clouded title. You should consult with an local lawyer if you decide to take this process one step further. I'd recommend walking away until the title becomes clear.
1. A Will without registration is also genuine will of witness proves the signature of testator.
2. No it cannot be claimed after such a long time.
3. You just need chain of owners to prove ownership of Mr B.
4. No it is not risky on basis of that will.
