Any sale of ancestral property without consent of all legal heirs is invalid and liable to set aside. There is no limitation for seeking sale of property by legal heirs not giving consent to sale by any of other legal heirs. All four father, mother and siblings have equal share in the property. Except to the extent of his share that is ¼ sale of ¾ is not binding on non consenting legal heirs. Property is in acres, it seems to be located around Hyderabad in RR District. Issue lawyer’s notice to all legal heirs seeking partition and separate possession of property. After that file a suit in district Court for partition and separate possession. Add all purchasers as parties to the suit and submit certified copies all sale deeds executed by him. Seek cancellation of all sale deeds in favor of third parties. You are not bound to return the sale consideration received by father as it was no applied for the betterment of family.
Will legal heirs (children & wife) be responsible to repay loans taken by father
My father has taken lots of loans for his personal lavish lifestyle and never spent a single penny for his wife(my mother) and two children (me & my brother). His wife/our mother has worked hard and educated us and made us reasonably successful. My father never spent anything for our education or family events but sold off almost entire property for his personal needs and wants. He currently has loans from banks to the tune of Rs. 50 lakhs), chit fund companies to the tune of Rs. 30 lakhs (mortgage loan on house), private chits to the tune of Rs. 20 lakhs, hand loans of about Rs. 20 lakhs. All taken and spent for personal use and not for family members. If he dies now, will our family (mother, myself and my brother) be liable to pay those loans? Will the creditors have legal right to recover them from us? If we inherit any ancestral property from my father (not earned by my father but earned by my grandfather), will loan creditors have legal right to recover the ancestral property also? What are the legal remedies available to us? Will any declaration/affidavit/agreement from my father starting that we (myself, my mother and my brother) are not responsible for repayment of his loans after his death protect us from loan creditors? What options do loan creditors have?
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11 Answers
Your are liable to extent of your inheritance
they can recover it from ancestral property inherited from your father
declaration would not protect you
The legal heirs will be responsible only to the extent of inheritance. In your case if you do not inherit anything from your father, you need not worry about your liability. A mere declaration or affidavit from your father shall not preclude the creditors from having a recourse to the legal heirs. You need not take any steps now, but wait for any eventuality.
Follow-up Question: If I get my father to execute gift settlement deeds for his remaining estate/properties in favour of myself, my brother and my mother, immediately during the lifetime of my father before his demise, will such property acquired by us via Gift Settlement Deed from father be still recoverable by loan creditors for loans taken by my father, after his demise. Kindly advice, please.
Creditors can file suit to set aside gift deed as it was done to evade creditors
Yes, very much. In any case, after your father's lifetime, his assets will be shared by his legal heirs. Hence, you will all be liable to the extent of your inheritance.
Dear Sir,
Legitimate or Illegitimate children not responsible to discharge the liabilities of their late father on the following principle.
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'Pious obligation' means the moral liability of sons to pay off or discharge their father's non-avyavaharik debts. ... The ancient doctrine of pious obligation was governed by Smriti law. There is a pious obligation on the sons and grandsons to pay the debts contracted by the father and grandfather.
Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005- Rights & Liabilities of a daughter member
Section 6(4) provides that no court shall recognize any right to proceed against a son, grandson, or great grandson for the recovery of any debt due from his father, grand father or great grand father.
Pious Obligation gone
Dear Client,
You are only liable to repay up to the value of inheritance you get from your father and any declarations will not protect you even if it is an ancestral property. As per your follow up question, even if the gift deed is made, the creditors can claim the recovery of it to repay the loans.
Thank you
If you people inherit the properties left behind by your deceased father then you will be liable to pay the debts to that extent
If you do not inherit any property from your father then you may not be liable to repay his personal loans, the debtors may seize the properties lying on his name and adjust the sale consideration by selling the said properties towards the outstanding loan, they cannot go beyond that.
Even without such a declaration or an affidavit you and your mother cannot be held liable to repay his personal loans.
If the property so transferred to your names are not listed as schedule of properties in the lawsuit for recovery of money then you need not share that property.
The creditors cannot attach this proeprty after that.
- Under the Hindu Law, a son is under a pious obligation to discharge his father's debts out of his ancestral property regardless of the possibility that he had not been profited by the debts.
- Further, if the debt is purely personal debt of the father, then it cannot be passed over to the legal heirs.
- Further, they cannot get order of attachment property of son for the debt of your father, because father and son`s assets will be treated as their respective separate properties.
- Moreover, if you got property of father both movable or immovable properties through inheritance then only, your liability to pay the debs, after selling those inherited property.
- Hence, the private financier cannot recover the amount from you in the absence of any agreement or guarantee by you.
- The said settlement or declaration deed by father will have no impact on the case if the creditors filed.
Only of you enjoy father's property you need to. Otherwise no
