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Dhiraj Solanki   17 October 2024

Passing bequest to son and transfer of flat

An unmarried flat owner died intestate. His two brothers are the only legal heirs who now wants to transfer the Flat equally with 50% ownership on their joint names. However one of the brother wants to pass his inheritance/bequest to his only son, therefore the Flat transfer should be in the joint names of uncle and nephew (i.e. one brother and another brother's son).

Now the parties do not want to go into the route of applying Succession Certificate and waste time, money on this cumbersome process. 

Also due to the fact that the Society is having management issues, conflicts and they take lot of time to do Flat transfers and day to day operation. The two brothers are therefore reluctant to follow the path of getting the Flat first transferred on their names and thereafter one brother prepares a Gift Deed to gift his share to his only son. As this will involve two stages and document submission, firstly the documents preparation and transfer procedures to get the Flat transferred on 2 brother's name and once that transfer is completed and share certificate endorsed by the Society on 2 brother's name. Thereafter Gift Deed to be prepared by one of the brother to gift his son and again doing second submission to the Society to get the name of his son added to the share certificate and delete his, so that now the Flat will in the name of uncle and nephew. This TWO time document submission and consumption of lengthy timescale is not acceptable.

Therefore, in this scenario is there anyway one can complete the transfer of Flat in one go and what are the documents required to be prepared by all three parties (i.e. 2 brothers and son of one of the brother) so that the Flat is transfer by the Society on joint names of uncle and nephew in one single documents submission.



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 5 Replies

Dhiraj Solanki   18 October 2024

In this scenario, is it possible to redirect/transfer inheritance to some other party through release or relinqueshment deed. For e.g. In this case the person(father) who wants to pass inheritance to his son, can the father prepare relinqueshment deed/release deed in favour of his son. And all the 3 parties i.e. 2 brothers and son will sign the deed. 

However the point is the son is not the direct beneficiary of the property, if his father was not alive than as per the Succession Act the son will become beneficiary but at this stage since his father is alive he cannot be a DIRECT BENEFICIARY.

Can a release deed/relinqueshment deed be only prepared among legal heirs who are direct beneficiaries so as to pass inheritance/distribute among them OR it can be prepared to pass/direct inheritance to any third party which the beneficiary may choose.

In foreign countries a document similar to release deed/relinqueshment deed called as "Deed of Variation" is prepared and recognised to pass inheritance to any other individual.

Therefore will this Deed if prepared be binding and legally valid to admit uncle and nephew as joint owners of the property.

T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate (Advocate)     18 October 2024

The law of a foreign country is not valid in India.

While in India you have to follow the Indian laws alone and not the  law of a foreign soil.

Basically this property do not belong to the brothers but by virtue of being legal heirs they inherit the same, and as they are the only surviving legal heirs of the deceased, the property shall devolve on them alone.

Thus after inheriting the property if one of them wants to transfer his share to his son, he has to undergo the process of acqusition of his share in the property first on his name and then proceed with the proposed trnsafer of the same to his son.

Any short cut of the procedures of law will render the trasnsfer invalid resulting into long drawn litigation at a later stage.

Therefore it is advisable that you follow the proper procedures of law now itself to avoid future legal hassles

Dhiraj Solanki   19 October 2024

Thank you Sir.

Release Deed as explained in https://www.grihashakti.com/knowledge-centre/deeds-of-release.aspx

What is a Release Deed?
A release deed, classified as a legal document, is pivotal in seamlessly transferring property rights. This instrument is employed when an individual, known as the releasor, opts to surrender their rights to a specific property in favor of another party, referred to as the releasee.

Partial Release Deed
A partial release deed serves a distinct purpose where only a portion of the releasor's rights or interests in a property is transferred to the releasee. This type is beneficial in scenarios where a co-owner intends to relinquish a part of their share in the property, possibly to another co-owner or a third party. The legal implication of this deed is that the releasor retains some rights or interests in the property even after the execution of the deed, ensuring a partial transfer of ownership stake.


Transfer of Rights
A release deed can have a significant impact on property ownership as it directly transfers property rights. The decision of the releasor to either completely relinquish or partially transfer ownership can result in either the full transfer of ownership or the release of some stake in the property. This legal document is a powerful tool that can transfer property rights from one party to another and should be approached with careful consideration and guidance.


Meaning of Right/s - A right is not something which should have ownership or possession. A right can be a legal claim or legitimate interest. For e.g. Son has a right over his father's property according to the law of succession, once his father passes away the son can execute his right/make a claim to acquire ownership of his father's property and transfer of title on his name by doing the necessary paperwork.

However, it is to noted here that the son does not become owner of his father's property immediately but he still retains his right to acquire his father's property even before the completing the property transfer paperwork.
Between the period from document submission and acquisition of property ownership, the son still retains the "right of his father's property acquisition". 

Now as highlighted above Release Deed is a instrument to surrender releasor rights to a specific property in favor of another party. So why cannot the legal heir release his right of inheritance to another party.

The word "RELEASOR RIGHTS" is significant in nature as it does not mandate ownership. Once the person becomes the owner he can only relinquish his right through "Gift Deed" but here we are only discussing surrender of rights to third party and not ownership.


Is there any legislation, caselaw or legal text which states that RELEASE DEED/RELINQUESHMENT DEED CAN ONLY BE MADE AMONG CO-OWNERS, LEGAL HEIRS AND RELEASEE CANNOT BE ANY THIRD PARTY OR CANNOT BE ANY OTHER FAMILY MEMBER OR ANY OTHER INDIVIDUAL.

Will really appreciate more information and discussion on this.

T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate (Advocate)     19 October 2024

Your further explnation of the meaning of release deed in this forum was not sought by anyone, by this explanation you have totally deviated from your original query, thus it can be observed that you have posted the main query only to enrich your academic knowledge, but please remember that the exxperts here render only legal opinion and do not conduct classes on legal matters.


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