• Ancestral property

respected sirs,

i am 66 years old man from Gujarat, my family consists of wife, son,daughter in law, two grand daughters.
my son with his wife and daughters stay at USA.
i have parents who at present stay  with my younger step brother in the same city. they used to stay at another city previously.
i also stayed with them up to the age of 31(1978) and contributed everything to the family without saving anything for me. i had to go for side activity to earn more at that time for maintenance of the family.
i married in the year 1976 and stayed with the family for about 3 and half years. 
i had suffered very much during my stay in the family due to attitude of my step mother from my childhood up to the time i stayed there.
since the accommodation there was small at that time it was very difficult to stay in one room kitchen  flat.
due to my transfer of job i came to present city. i had to leave that house with no money and had to borrow some money to manage my stay in the present city.
before leaving  i also tried to perform my duties. as my father was to retire two years later i arranged for a job for my younger brother immediately after he completes his graduation after six months from my departure.
in this city i struggled hard to maintain me and my wife. in 1990 i lost my wife due to cancer leaving me and my son and i was economically indebted to some private persons due to heavy expenses of wife's treatment.  
my son was of the age of 10 years.
i never got any mental, financial, personal support from my family.
due to inability to look after my son on account of my job out of station i took decision to marry again and after about 7 months i married. 
my second wife being a teacher could manager my son and her job too very well.
as a result my son took qualification of MCA  from reputed university and served with some companies in India for about 5 years. he found his match and we happily got him married too.
he got an offer from USA and is there for last few years.
my parents and brother with his wife shifted to my city after selling the flat from the previous city.
this flat was in the name of my father.
my father had seen extreme poverty and helplessness due to loss of his parents from his childhood.
the flat was his self earned property.
he shifted to present city at the age of about 85 years. now he is 94.
he has a own house in his own name at our native place.
the land was ancestral property and he build a house on the land during 1970's.
i have narrated the story to get you the background of my questions.

                                   QUESTIONS

1.  my stepbrother has sold the previous city flat at the such a low rate that it is  unbelievable as compared to market rate at that time in that area. it appears that my father was of old age he somehow convinced my father to accept the rate he told to him. also he appropriated the amount to acquire new house in present city. the house is in his name singly.  
     what claim legally i can make in the amount so received considering the market rate at that time???  
2.  for the house at our native place they have started to say that i don't have rights in that property since my parents are living with my stepbrother  and he is looking after them.
  it is likely that secretly they might have got the property in their name from my father either through will or through  documents.
3.  can a person holding ancestral property give his property to anyone through will ??? if yes does this require any kind of legal procedure???can he put aside legal heirs for his ancestral property???

dear sirs,  
i request you to send me replies to my email address if permitted under your administrative guidelines. my e mail address is 
zebraval2003@yahoo.co.in
i shall be thank you in advance with a request to quote legal sections subsections or clause applicable to my question
Asked 10 years ago in Family Law
Religion: Hindu

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3 Answers

1. Since it was his self owned property you can do nothing about the sale. However itf it appears that your step-brother withheld the consideration money from his father without his permission then you can file case of cheating and criminal breach of trust.

2. You do have right in the house at native place. To preempt any move of your brother to deprive you of your share in the property, do file a suit for partition and injunction in respect of the said property.

3. No , he can not. Even if he does so, the Will has no force as far as title of co-sharer on the property is concerned.

Devajyoti Barman
Advocate, Kolkata
22815 Answers
488 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1) you have mentioned flat was self acquired property of your father . if father has sold the said flat consideration would have been received in his name only . your step brother may have arranged the deal . if consideration received was lower than market price and your step brother did not pay his father sale proceeds your father can file criminal complaint of cheating and breach of trust against his son .

2) since house at native place is ancestral property you can file suit for partition to claim your share in said property

3) your father can only bequeath his share in ancestral property to your step brother

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94692 Answers
7527 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. You can do nothing about the first property already sold by your father at cheap price,

2. You have equal share on your ancestral property. You can file partition suit claiming your share of the property,

3. Your father can execute a Will for his share of the ancestrral property only.

Krishna Kishore Ganguly
Advocate, Kolkata
27219 Answers
726 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

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