Bujji (test) 20 August 2008

Ancestral property

We are Hindus..

My grandfather had purchased some commercial/residential lands long back with his hard earning money. He has got only one son that is my father.. So my father got these land to him from his father (thru will or testamentary or intestate succession, no one knows). Now these lands are under my father’s name. My parents got 2 sons and 4 daughters. Now my father is planning to give these lands to his younger son (could be thru will or as gift or transferring, at this point god know how is going to do so? ). Since these lands are obtained to him from his father, I need some help in understanding the below mentioned things

a) Can my father legally gift or transfer this kind of property to his younger son only without the legal consent of any of the family members; can any of family members claim their share in this kind of property if he does so?

b) We also think that he is planning to sell or lease these lands to other people and going to give all the benefits to his younger son, what are the options left for daughters to stop this happening. If this happens, can the daughters claim the share on this? Can my father give Power of Attorney to his younger son to lease to these lands to somebody else?

c) If my father is planning to give this property to his sons thru will, what are the options for daughter to claim a share?

d) As we believe this is ancestral property, can we as daughters claim our share during the lifetime of my father if he gives that to his younger son only ( by some means)

e) Can these lands be considered as my father’s self-acquired property or ancestral property? What is ancestral property? How many generations need to hold a property to say whether this is ancestral property or not? Hindu succession act 1956 or its amendments 2005 doesn’t provide clear definition of ANCESTRAL PROPERTY.

Thanks .. Bujji

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4 Replies

shamit sanyal (advocate) 20 August 2008

a person so long as he is alive is free to deal with his propertyin any way he wants to.

he can make will,gift even sale the entire property to another person even gift it ot complete stranger.

Now the question of inheritane arises when a person dies with out making any of the afore said arrangements,ie dies intestate(see section 3g)

section 8 of the HSA deals with classes of heirs in which class I heirs are called preferential heir ,which excludes all others presence to inherit a propertu of a Hindu male.

according to this if your Granfather died intestate then your father became the sole owner,and being class ii heirs you all are excluded.

Guest (n/a) 20 August 2008

Father is not going to say how he got the property from our grandfather ( I mean either thru will or testamentary or as succesion). If there a way to get this information from him legally...

Bujji (test) 21 August 2008

Thanks for the responses from Samit and Lakhani. They are of great help.

So in simple, couple of possibilities is there in future as follows:

1) If my grandfather didn't made a will (i.e) my father got this lands by succession, then we all have the right to claim the share in property and my younger brother can’t do anything by his own. Can my younger brother obtain power of attorney from my father and act on his own without the consent of other family members?

2) If my grandfather made a will so that property goes to my father, then my father had every right to give (either as gift or transfer) that to anyone he likes ( his younger son) during his lifetime without taking any consent from others in family. Am I right?

3) If my grandfather made a will so that property goes to my father, then my father made a will so that goes to his younger son, then his younger son is the sole owner of that property ? Am I right? In that case what is the validity of fathers will as this is ancestral property?

Without disturbing the harmony in family, is there any way to sort this kind of scenario so that everyone gets their share in ancestral property. Here father and younger son act smart and do the things without the knowledge of others in family.

Can you please provide the weblink of original copy of HAS, 1956