Inherited Property
Querist :
Anonymous
(Querist) 17 February 2011
This query is : Resolved
Dear Sir,
Please refer the attachment.
An earliest response will be sincerely appreciated
Thanks & regards,
A V Vishal
(Expert) 17 February 2011
Grandmother already made her will to divide the property among all.
Will can be enforced only after death of the testtator, hence legally no one can claim under the will while the testator is still alive.
1. In case of a person’s death, who all will be legal heirs of his property?
There are two classes of heirs one is the Class I and the other is the Class II.
HEIRS IN CLASS I
Son, daughter, widow, mother, son of a pre-deceased son, daughter of a pre-deceased son, son of a pre-deceased daughter, duaghter of a pre-deceased daughter, widow of a pre-deceased son, son of pre-deceased son of a pre-deceased son, daughter of a pre-deceased son of a pre-deceased son, widow of a pre-deceased son of a pre-deceased son.
Class II
1. Father
2. (1) Son’s daughter’s son (2) son’s daughter’s daughter, (3) brother,(4) sister.
III. (1) Daughter’s son’s son, (2) daughter’s son’s daughter , (3) daughter’s daughter’s son, (4) daughter’s daughter’s daughter.
IV. (1) Brother’s son (2) Sister’s son, (3) brother’s daughter (4) Sister’s daughter.
V. Father’s father. Father’s mother.
VI. Father’s widow, brother’s widow.
VII Father’s brother, father’s sister.
VIII Mother’s father, mother’s sister.
IX Mother’s brother, mother’s sister.
General rules of succession in the case of female Hindus.- (1) The property of a female Hindu dying intestate shall devolve according to the rules set out in section 16,-
(a) firstly, upon the sons and daughters (including the children of any pre-deceased son or daughter) and the husband.
(b) secondly, upon the heirs of the husband.
(c) thirdly, upon the heirs of the father, and
(d) fourthly, upon the heirs of the father, and
(e) lastly, upon the heirs of the mother.
2. Will his mother be a rightful owner of a portion of his property? If yes up to what % she can claim?
One part will be succeeded by her as she is Class I heir along with other Class I heirs as per the list above.
3. Can she claim on movable & immovable properties in his name? What about deposits in banks?
Yes she can claim the movable & immovable properties held in your father-in-law's name.
4. Can she legally write a will on plain paper to pass the rights to her grandson only or should it be equally distributed among daughter-in-law, son & daughter?
She can write a will in her own sweet way.
what is validity of a will written on plain paper?
It is a perfectly valid document if it is executed properly.
7. What are the chances of my wife getting portion of this aforesaid property?
Depends on the wish of the old lady.
Kirti Kar Tripathi
(Expert) 17 February 2011
Since the grand mother is still alive, as such she is absolute owner of the property. the will if any, will take effect only after her death. She can change, alter or make another will or alienate, sell or transfer the property during her life time. At present all the questions are hypothetical.
Querist :
Anonymous
(Querist) 19 February 2011
Dear Sirs,
My actual concerns are not found really addressed in the responses.
Well, I'll elaborate further:
Case (1):
Grandmother had a property for which she was the rightful owner. She has already made a will regarding the same & distributed among her children. She didn't put the clause that the 'will' will be effected after her death hence as of now all her children are individual owners of the property.
Case (2): Her eldest son passed away last year & to the best of our knowledge he might not have made a WILL. Now the property what we are talking about is what she is likely to get as per Hindu Succession Act because of her son's unexpected death.
Concern (1): As she didn't put the clause aforesaid in the earlier case of her own property distribution, why should the clause is applicable or bringing up now?
Concern (2): Is there any compulsion or clause in the applicable law that property in similar cases to be handled like this only?
Concern (3): Does anything prevent her legally that she can't legally transfer the rights of ownership to somebody with immediate effect?
Concern (4): The property is put on sale now. Because of this new development the share what she is likely to get would be handled by interested parties. There are good chances of misusing the clause. As per the new will whatever left behind will be transferred afterwards. For her own maintenance she doesn't need any more money as the same already allocated & she herself has that capacity by financial means. To prevent any injustice from happening in future, it's better to transfer the legal rights with immediate effect or what are other options?
None of the above concerns can’t be trivialised as hypothetical only as those are based on past true experiences, please understand.
Thanks.
