• Claiming brother or father property settled in family arrangement

Dear Experts,
We are two brothers A1 and A2 .My deceased father (A) from his self-earn fund had purchased 10 acres land on my elder brother name (A1) when he was minor and my 5 uncles forced my father to bind my minor brother (A1) 10 acres land during family arrangement in year 1980 and my uncles gave same 10 acres (A1) land to my father as his share in his family arrangement. My brother A1 had left village to work in City .Since demise of my father in year 1990 to 2010 I was enjoying 10 acres land revenue without sharing with him .In year 2010 dispute started on sharing of this 10 acres land and now my brother wants sell his 10 acres land for his daughter marriage and son education expenses but not ready to share 50% of property value with me as he claims 10 acres land 100% belongs to him because he told me that binding of his 10 acres property in family arrangement was my uncles/father mistake.
Brief history of my father family arrangement:
My deceased father (A) had purchased 20 acres (10+10) land from his self-earn fund and grandfather (GF) had purchased 40 acres land on his name from self-earn fund. My grandfather had six sons and 3 daughters. As per family arrangement memorandum paper, property was distributed among 6 sons as given below:
A - 10 acres (ie belong to A1 my elder brother)
B - E each got 10 acres from grandfather’s 40 acres land
F- 10 acres land belongs to my father 
Two houses ( H1, and H2) purchased by grandfather self-earn fund and these houses shared between my uncles B to F. 
One house (H3) purchased by my father was given as his share
Family arrangement memorandum was prepared by village accountant on white sheet of paper and signed by all parties with two witness. After 1 year of family arrangement, respective land owners names ie 5 uncles (B-E and F) in mutation records had updated. However family settlement deed is not prepared on stamp paper and registered till today. And my father has not released his rights on the 10 acres land (given to his brother F) through any legal documents.
Can you please clarify/advise me on following points:
1) Is there legal way to claim my share from my elder brother (A1) 10 acres land?
2) Is binding of minor brother separate property in family arrangement is legally accepted?
3) Is limitation act restrict me to file suit to claim my father share from grandfather property and get back his 10 acres land given to uncle F
4) Am I have right to cancel/terminate family arrangement and file partition suit against my uncles?
Asked 8 years ago in Property Law
Religion: Hindu

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7 Answers

1) since your father had purchased 10 acres of land from his own funds in name of brother and your brother was not working you can claim it was bought for benefit of joint family nd claim share in the property

2) your father could not have without court order transferred 10 acres of land in favour of uncle

3) if family arrangement provides for division of properties by metes and bounds it ought to be stamped and regd .

4) un regd document would not be admissible in evidence

5) if it is memorandum of family arrangement it is not required to be stamped and regd

6) it is necessary to peruse memorandum to advice further

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94729 Answers
7536 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

The 10 acres land needs to be partitioned between you and your brother as this property was mixed in to common family pool initially. So the property lost its self earned status. Now after family settlement deed, the property was allotted to your father. Hence it will be the absolute property of your father. As legal heirs you and your brother will inherit equal shares. This was the case in year 1990. However from 1990 you are in possession of all of 10 acres and it is more than 20 years(as of 2010) and your possession is adverse possession. Your brother should have claimed his right by 2002(12 year limitation in case of father's property). But he has not filed suit or taken care of property. Hence he has no claim on entire 10 acres now.

Nothing can be done against family settlement done in1980 as more than 35 years have passed. Law presumes that any document executed 30 years ago as true and valid. Hope this clarifies

Rajgopalan Sripathi
Advocate, Hyderabad
2173 Answers
394 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1. The family settlement bonds all the parties who signed thereon. The deed can be impeached in the court by the signatories or their legal heirs only on the ground that it was executed by the signatory under duress or undue influence.

2. Family settlement is not required to be either executed on a stamp paper or registered.

3. Unless you challenge the family settlement and succeed in the court on the ground that your father did not execute it with his free consent you cannot claim succession to the land. As a corollary thereto, your brother will inherit it.

4. One is free to convey a property to a minor.

5. The bar of limitation does not apply to your case. The settlement can be cancelled only by the court and not you.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1) in such cases what is important is the source of funds

2) when property was purchased in brother nane your brother must not have been working and not having any source of income

3) the funds for purchase must have flown from father account .

4) if you don't have sake deed for purchase of land obtain it from sin registrar office by taking search of records

5) contact a local lawyer . It is necessary to peruse documents cited by you to advice further

Ajay Sethi
Advocate, Mumbai
94729 Answers
7536 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

You are time and again saying that your father was forced to part with his property, but this has to be proved in the court with cogent evidence as courts do not believe oral statements. Show the deed and all other documents to a lawyer to obtain a comprehensive opinion.

Ashish Davessar
Advocate, Jaipur
30763 Answers
972 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

1) Is there legal way to claim my share from my elder brother (A1) 10 acres land?

Though this property was purchased by your father A, it was bought on the name of your brother A1, hence he is the absolute owner of the property and only he has full rights over the property. Just because you had maintained the property for 20 years, you cannot claim ownership or title or even a share out of it.

2) Is binding of minor brother separate property in family arrangement is legally accepted?

This binding is not known how this was made, however in the absence of any registered document or deed, such bindings are not tenable in law.

3) Is limitation act restrict me to file suit to claim my father share from grandfather property and get back his 10 acres land given to uncle F

If your father has not transferred his share to his brother legally, i.e., by a registered document, you can very well file a partition suit seeking a share out of it, let the court decide about its maintainability based on the defence your uncle may adopt. Partition suit is not barred by limitation.

4) Am I have right to cancel/terminate family arrangement and file partition suit against my uncles?

Family settlement and arrangement or even oral partition among the share holders are generally not disputable in law especially if subsequently there was a mutation of records to prove individual possession out of such arrangements. However a civil suit's summons may create a stir and chances for a negotiation among others so that you can be benefited.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84925 Answers
2196 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

How can prove to court that my father had purchased 10 acres land on brother for whole family?

With the sale deed document mentioning your father as a guardian for th purchaser, it cannot be said that the property was bought for the welfare of the family.

Binding of my brother individual property into family arrangement is legally correct?

From the contents of your subsequent post, it is clear that this property purchased by your father has been forcibly included in the family property and was allotted to your father as his share. This is an illegal act which your father should have protested. However this will not bind others. Therefore you can very well file a partition suit seeking a share out of your father's share in the family property because no transfer had taken place by a registered document.

Based on above information, Is family arrangement is bonafide? If not, which is best legal path to cancel family arrangement and file a legal suit?

This family arrangement may be suitable to them but not to you because you have not been given any share out of the family property, this is injustice.

You cannot and need not cancel the family arrangement, you can file a partition suit seeking a share out of your father's share in the property.

T Kalaiselvan
Advocate, Vellore
84925 Answers
2196 Consultations

5.0 on 5.0

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