Dear Ld Friends,
I am not getting along with my wife. I am staying in residence property "A" with my wife and child. I also have an Office property "B" and another residence property "C" which is lying vacant since we moved to property "A".
All these properties are self acquired by me after marriage and stand 100% in my name. My wife did not contribute a single rupee towards any of the abovementioned properties.
I anticipate divorce from my wife. Considering the new amendments, I understand that on divorce, I will have to part 50% of my current "residence" property which in my case is Property "A". I am OK with that. The new amendment also says that the rest of the immovable property's share for the wife will be at the discretion of the judge/court. Now that is scary and unpredictable. My lawyer has suggested that I can make a private discretionery trust (not registered) and then transfer & register (pay stamp duty, etc) my properties "B" & "C" into this private trust. I would like to know if this is a good way to protect my properties from my wife especially since i do not have any one close whom I can gift or sell to. Will transferring to private trust give me enough protection from wife as I will be the settlor and one relative as trustee ?? My minor daughter and relative will be the beneficiaries.
Raj Iyer
