Irrespective of the social or economic status of families, disputes over property are common. Most people prefer rushing to court rather than making efforts to solve these issues in amicable manners. Family settlement on the property is more advisable and definitely a better way to resolve these issues.
Read: Family settlement for property disputes in India – Part I
This process involves a logical and peaceful adjustment that members of a family make so that they may avoid court cases. This could be related to both property and movable assets.
How does the Legal settlement on property in India work?
- Now, before a case is filed in court for property partition, a legal notice has to be sent to the other co-owners of the property regarding family property partition/settlement.
- The statutory notice for partition action must declare the shares of each co-owner, complete details of the property in dispute and the requisite action required to be taken.
- If there is no reply from the co-owners or the response is insufficient, legal notice or a partition suit can be filed in the court.
- A partition case is filed when none of the co-owners agrees to the terms and conditions of property partition, and one or more co-owners wish to distribute the property as per their shares.
- A suit for partition is filed in that court which has jurisdiction over that area where the property is.
- The court first decides whether the person who has filed the partition suit has a rightful claim in the property or not.
- When the share is confirmed, no additional inquiry is required and the court then assigns individual ownership of the property to the rightful owners.
- If the property fails to be distributed on the partition suit, the court can call for interrogation and give a preliminary decision for electing a commissioner who will then assess the property and submit a report.
- The court after that decides the share of each co-owner by the given report and divides the property as per the share of each co-owner.
What are the legal requirements of family settlement on property?
- Few legal formalities must be performed to ensure that the agreement is valid.
- The settlement document has to have signatures of all the family members.
- A single signature missing can become ground for disputing the document in court at a later date.
- The document can be attested by two witnesses, though it is not mandatory.
- The next step is to register the agreement.
- The Indian Registration Act, Section- 17 a family settlement that implies to assign immovable property must be mandatorily registered, or the deed would be invalid.
- Stamp duty applies to such deeds, and the amount would depend on the value of the property involved.