Learned sir, I am posting this hoping to get some useful input on a tricky issue.
My father in law died in 2012 without a will. He had 4 children, 2 (one son and one daughter) from his first wife (who died from natural causes) and 2 from his second wife (one daught er and one son). My wife is the daughter from his first wife. The second wife (my mother in law in law is still alive and is being looked after by my wife and her sister alternately)
After his demise, in june 2012 the family (surviving mother and all 4 children) got together and got a memorandum of understanding made on affidavit and was signed by two witnesses and 2 advocates. The MOU was NOT registered at any court of law. The MOU essentially stated that all property will be under the control of the mother and that everyone is entitled an equal share in all the properties. All the original documents including the title deeds to lands and fixed deposits receipts were in the custody of the eldest son. The mothers jewellery are also in possession of the eldest son.
T he eldest son has now obtained a POA from the mother to sell the house. He has somehow managed to transfer the amounts from fathers account to his own and has used a substantial portion of the money for his personal use without informing anybody about it. He has now refused to take care of the mother saying that she is not related to him. He is not willing to talk to the other siblings about the issue, he is not willing to hand over the property documents.
In light of such events, what recourse does the family take to get back the legal documents and sell the property? Is the MOU valid in any court of law? Arbitration might not be possible as the eldest brother is not willing to talk/discuss about the issue and claims all the property to be his own.
