Right of legal heir of nominee in the flat

Querist : Anonymous (Querist) 13 May 2021 This query is : Resolved
The owner of the flat died interstate, making her son and daughter as nominees in equal proportion of the said flat.
Kindly let me know what are the rights of legal heirs of the nominees in case the nominee dies before the flat is transferred in another nominees name.

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When a property owner dies intestate, nominees are appointed to manage the property until it can be transferred to the legal heirs. Nominees do not have ownership rights; they act as custodians. If a nominee dies before the property is transferred, their legal heirs do not automatically inherit rights to the property. Instead, the property still belongs to the original owner's legal heirs as per succession laws. The nominee's role is to facilitate the transfer to the rightful beneficiaries.

kavksatyanarayana (Expert) 13 May 2021
The nominee has no right and he will hand over the property to the owners. The legal heirs of the owner have an equal share in the property. So how many legal heirs are there?

K Rajasekharan (Expert) 14 May 2021
The query is not clear but vague, possibly due to some mistake in the style of writing.

When an owner of a flat dies intestate the legal heirs, as per his personal law, will get the ownership of the flat.

If one of the legal heirs dies then the other one will get the flat if there are only two legal heirs and the person died now does not have any other legal heir.

The nominee has no ownership in the assets of the person died intestate but he/she is the one who should manage the property till the property reaches the hands of the legal heirs.

J K Agrawal (Expert) 14 May 2021
Nominee has no role in succession.
It does not make any difference if one or some nominee dies prior to death of nominator.
Nominee is just like a manager of property and not the owner of property.
Nominee can be any body may be a son may be a servant may be neighbor or may be a friend.
They all are having no right in property but having right to manage it, get it transferred in his name (so that it can be distributed to the original owners).
The real owners of property may take their share from nominee.
If a nominee denies to give share to real owners or converts the property in his own use, it amounts to breach of trust and he can be prosecuted so.

Advocate Bhartesh goyal (Expert) 14 May 2021
Well advice by expert J.K.Agrawal, i agree with him.

P. Venu (Expert) 14 May 2021
What is the real issue? Post material facts.
Please avoid speculative facts.

Moreover, the nominees, viz. the son and the daughter, are the legal heirs . Are there any other legal heirs?

T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate (Expert) 15 May 2021
The nominee in this regard is just a trustee to receive the property of the deceased and disburse the same to the legal heirs/successors in interest as per the personal law to which the deceased belonged.
Therefore the legal heirs of the deceased owner including the predeceased legal heirs of the deceased legal heirs are also entitled to a share in the property.

T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate (Expert) 15 May 2021
The court clarified that the nomination does not override the law of testamentary or intestate succession. The rationale behind nomination is to protect the rights and benefits of the deceased till the legal representatives can step in and take appropriate measures to secure them.
What this essentially means is, the nominee will receive and hold the property of the deceased person until he/she is legally bound to transfer or distribute the estate and the rights attached to them, to the legal heirs of the deceased. Till such a legal obligation arises, the nominee is free to have the possession of the estate of the deceased and to enjoy the benefits deriving from it.

T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate (Expert) 15 May 2021
There have been numerous judicial pronouncements where the rights of nominees and legal heirs on the estate of the deceased have been conclusively decided. In the case of Smt. Sarbati Devi and Anr. V. Smt. Usha Devi, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has held that a nomination cannot be given the same position as that of a will. A nomination and a will are two different concepts and nomination could not be given the same legal status as that of a will. A nominee can’t be considered as the owner of a property and a nomination does not bestow all the beneficial ownership of the assets to the nominees alone.

Another significant judgment was in Uma Sehgal and Ors. vs Dwarka Dass Sehgal And Ors., wherein the High Court of Delhi, where it was held that a nominee is nothing but a person who receives the payment on behalf of the heirs of the assured.

P. Venu (Expert) 15 May 2021
It is my humble but considered opinion that multiple posting have been and have posed substantial challenges to the integrity of this platform and the stature of the experts. It is only recently that sanity has been restored. Hence learned expert Mr.T. Kalaiselvan is requested to avoid, to the extent possible, multiple postings.

I trust Mr. Kalaiselvan would be magnanimous in pardoning my overreach in making this suggestion.

Dr J C Vashista (Expert) 16 May 2021
Well analysed, opined and advised by experts Mr. J K Agarwal and Mr. T Kalaiselvan.

Nominee and Legal representative of deceased are on different footing qua succession of the property left intestate. Nominee is just a custodian / care-taker of such property till the same devolve upon and handed over to LRs.

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