Raj S Iyer (Business dev. Mgr) 29 October 2014

What to do if nri heir does not co-operate

Hi,

We are in the midst of selling our ancestral land in Kerala. It belonged to my grandfather. There are 13 heirs and a legal-heirship certificate has been issued -by Tahsildar- that has the names of 13 heirs, namely my uncles and cousins.

One of my cousins has been nominated as power of attorney for 12 heirs settled in India.

The 13th heir is my living uncle who has settled in the US for 50 + years. He suspects us of being unfair to him, though this isn't the case. He has said subsequently that he will do nothing such as give POA, try to get the OCI card or take any such effort, to enable us to register the sale deed. Already we've buyers who have purchased part of the land.

He is also 80 years old and has health issues. His children don't respond to our telephones or emails. He has closed the door on us, even though we intend to share the proceeds equally among our families, including him. He has remained out of touch with us for decades and it is unlikely that he will give his release for sale.

Barring my uncle all other heirs are without conflict and would like the sale to go through ASAP. All other documents such as POA and partition deeds are no problem with the others. They will cooperate fully.

I am at my wit's end how to proceed. Any way around my uncle ? Such as depositing his share of proceeds in court?

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4 Replies

Sudhir Kumar, Advocate (Advocate) 29 October 2014

let him receive notice for divisionof property and decide whether he wants to come or not.

Raj S Iyer (Business dev. Mgr) 30 October 2014

What if he does not respond, that is he ignores any notice? For many years now, he is uncommunicative and does not respond to mails or answer the phone.

Raj S Iyer (Business dev. Mgr) 30 October 2014

We are constrained by the fact that he is based in the US. During winter months, it being cold, he does not travel and worst of all, he does not want to know any details. He does not want to get involved and has laid instructions with his children that he must not be disturbed by us.

On our part, we are willing and indeed desire that his family gets their share of proceeds as soon as that is possible. But they distrust us and don't want to speak with us.

Is there any way, by which we the remaining heirs can execute sale deed and the portion of his share of proceeds be given to the custody of court? Or is it possible for us to move court and obtain some kind of permission to sell, based on the consent of all other heirs, because this uncle is not responding at all.

Because of age and ill-health too, he refuses to take any effort to obtain the OCI card - he hasn't got one and its a time-consuming process to get one. His children too are following his instructions not to speak with us. He does not allow his wife to have an opinion on the matter. We have sent him numerous mails seeking that he gives power of attorney to his wife who may come over and conclude the sale. Or to give us a release deed, on the assurance from us all that we will somehow remit his equal share of proceeds to the US ( We've other relatives there). He is absolutely un-responsive. We have sent dozens of mails over the past 3-4 years.. not one reply.

He is far removed from the scene - he migrated to america in 1960 and is still settled there. The land had always been in our possession and there is consensus among all other heirs.