Hello Everyone,
This is my 1st post in this forum, so I would start by introducing myself. I'm a service professional working currently working & living in Bangalore in a rented accommodation. I'm posting here because I found this forum during my research online to find a “lawyer’s forum” where I can find expert opinion to by property issue. Another reason is to find us a very good property lawyer (preferably in Kolkata) whose professional help my parents & I might require very shortly.
This issue is regarding my ancestral property which is situated in Kolkata. Although the matter has still not gone legal and all the parties are looking for an out of court solution but I want to be ready & prepared from legal perspective if things turn worse.
My Grandfather had built a house (atleast some 40 years backs) where his 2 younger brothers were allowed to live with their families. One of the brothers (the youngest) later built his house and moved out of this house, while the other brother's family continued staying in the house. It is a 2 storey house where some of the rooms on the Ground Floor were occupied by them. Years passed and both my Grandfather & his brother (whose family has occupied the ground floor) died. My Grandfather had not left any will when he died. The 3rd brother is still alive.
My Grandfather had 7 children (3 boys and 4 girls). One of the boys has died but the remaining children are alive. My father is the youngest one of the 3 boys my Grandfather had. My father has a son (myself) and the two other brothers (my uncles) have 1 daughter each. Both the daughters are now married. All my father’s sisters are married. None of my father’s siblings (except my own parents) are currently living in this house. The Ground floor folks have also bought their own separate accommodation and have moved out of this house.
Now, the problem is both my parents currently live in the 1st floor of this house. My parents do not have their own house hence they do not want to move out of this property.
The Others - this includes the ground floor folks, my father’s siblings (including the family of the 2nd deceased brother) and my Grandfather's youngest brother (who is still alive & lives separetly), want share of the property in cash or in kind.
Our point is that we have been the caretakers of this house since1999 and that my Grandmother was in our custody till the time she died. (We used to stay in another city due to my father employment & we returned to Kolkata in 1999)
Now that my parents have no other place to go it must be their legal right to enjoy my father’s ancestral home as their place of residence.
Further, it is our demand that they are only willing to move out of the house, if the property is demolished and a multistoried apartment complex is built on the land. My parents are given a flat in such complex without any monetary consideration. To this the others are raising objection hence in such case all of them also want flats in the complex. Therefore that is a dead-end since no builder will give so many owners share flats.
Next, the others have been recently pressurizing my father to agree to sell of the house and divide the proceeds among all the claimants. Our contention is that:-
1. It would be difficult to identify how much should be the actual share for everyone due to the complex nature of this case in the 1st place in case the house is sold,
2. There should be a scientific/legal way to identify the true claimants to rule out the question of free riders.
3. Having considered the point # 1, even If we sell the house our share will be nothing but a meager amount of money and eventually my parents will be homeless.
Expecting any legal advice/opinions whether online or offline.
It would also be very helpful if experts here can point towards the best property lawyers in Kolkata who are extremely experienced and have a proven track record as I feel we need to consult the best for the above case looking at its complexity. Name and contact numbers would be very helpful.
Thanks & regards,
PC
