Joint family property (Property Law)

This query is : Resolved

Author : Deepakshi Aggarwal

PRO CHAT CALL

Posted On 17 June 2012 at 14:47

Hi,

27 years back, my father & his 2 elder brothers purchased a house jointly, using the income which was earned through the family business. My Grandfather had no property in his name & thus, this has been the only property with all the 3 brothers so far. At the time of registering this property, the elder brother got the entire house registered in his wife's name without anyone's knowledge. Now he is no more & his son is claiming the entire property without giving any share to any of the remaining two brothers. Please suggest how can we claim our ownership in the same?

Thanks 4 ur replies.. Yes, its not an ancestral property & the business through which it was purchased was a partnership at that time, but the money put to purchase this house was a collaborative effort, not only of the elder brother's savings. The wife of that brother is still alive. But this is where we lacked that we did not keep any account of the source of money, though we know that all 3 of them pooled in the money.

Expert : Adv. Bharat Chugh

PRO CHAT CALL

Posted On 17 June 2012 at 15:23

1. This property is ancestral property in which all coparcenors have an equal birth right because it was acquired by the fudns of the joint family.

2. It would be his burden to prove that property held in wife's name - could have been acquired by his own or wife's earnings/savings.

3. File a suit for partition.

Good Luck !

Expert : Anirudh

PRO CHAT CALL

Posted On 17 June 2012 at 16:20

I completely disagree with the views of Mr. Bharat.

1. First and foremost the property cannot be said to be 'ancestral property'. To be an ancestral property, it ought to have come from male ascendants and it was not so in the present case.

2. Yes, probably Mr. Bharat wanted to say that the property was joint family property (instead of ancestral property). Here again one cannot conclusively say that it is the joint family property, unless the family business which the querist talking about was a 'HUF Business' and was so shown in the income tax returns.

3. I have a strong feeling that the business run by the three brothers might be a partnership business and not a joint family business.

4. The elder brother might have purchased the property out of his share of profit.

Therefore, unless the querist could come out with complete facts it will not be possible to give an appropriate answer to the query with the limited facts available as of now.

Expert : PS Dhingra, dcgroup1962@gmail.

PRO CHAT CALL

Posted On 17 June 2012 at 16:28

Dear Deepakshi,

There are some missing links in your question, e.g., (1) whether the wife of the elder brother is still alive, in whose name the property was purchased?; (2) whether the family members of the other two brothers have some proof that the property was purchased from the joint funds of the family (three brothers)? etc.

Expert : Shonee Kapoor

PRO CHAT CALL

Posted On 17 June 2012 at 18:42

This is not at all an ancestral property.

The property vests jointly in 3 brothers and after expiry of any of these, the share would be transferred to the legal heirs as per succession act.

Regards,

Shonee Kapoor
harassed.by.498a@gmail.com

Author : Deepakshi Aggarwal

PRO CHAT CALL

Posted On 17 June 2012 at 20:47

Thanks 4 ur replies.. Yes, its not an ancestral property & the business through which it was purchased was a partnership at that time, but the money put to purchase this house was a collaborative effort, not only of the elder brother's savings. The wife of that brother is still alive. But this is where we lacked that we did not keep any account of the source of money, though we know that all 3 of them pooled in the money.

Expert : Parveen Kr. Aggarwal

PRO CHAT CALL

Posted On 17 June 2012 at 23:59

After enactment of the Benami Transactions Prohibition Act, 1988 any property held in the name of a person is considered to be his property. In case any person claims it to be a joint hindu family property, he will have to prove it. So, the burden lies on the persons claiming it to be a property owned by joint hindu family held in the name of one brother's wife. This is purely a question of fact depending on the recitals in the sale deed and other attending circumstances like joint business and application of its money therefrom etc.