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Sri Rangarajan   25 February 2023

Us citizen - property disposal in india

Hi,

   My dad owned a house/property in Coimbatore India. My dad and mom have passed away.

Only two sons and my brother passed away too. So I am the only remaining legal heir.

My dad's will indicated that the property would pass onto both sons 50% each after his death (my mom will continue to live in the house till her death).

We have the legal heir certificate of both my dad and mom.

Both me and my brother are/were US citizens. My brother was divorced when he died. He has 2 adult children who are US citizens.

My question pertains to the sale of this property. Does the 2 adult children have a share of the property? They have not got any legal heir certificate, my brother has no will and they are not responding/cooperating with me regarding any property matters besides they have no idea of property matters in India (since they are  US raised). So getting them involved to provide any documents for property sale is virtually impossible.

Will I be able to sell the property based on my dad/mom's will and legal heir certificate which states that only me and my now deceased brother are the only legal heirs of that property and keep the full sale proceeds since my brothers kids are totally unresponsive.

 

Thanks,

 



Learning

 3 Replies

T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate (Advocate)     25 February 2023

The legal heirs of your deceased brother, i.e., his children are entitled for his share in the property.

If they don't cooperate for selling the property jointly along with you, then you can file a suit for partition and separate possession of your share in it 

Once court passes a judgement allotting your share, you can sell your share of property independently.

1 Like

Dr J C Vashista (Advocate)     26 February 2023

Ifully agree with the opinion and advise of learned expert Mr. T Kalaiselvan.

Your nephews have equal share with you, which cannot be sold without their consent, it will be advisable to involve them in the transaction to avoid any sort of litigation.

 

Aadil (Student)     07 June 2024

Dear Rangarajan,

Thank you for your query! I am Aadil and I will try to answer your question.

 

The short answer to your question is NO. The brother’s children are his legal heirs if he died after the death of your father.

 

The laws and regulations concerning the creation and execution of will are governed by the Indian Succession Act of 1925. According to this act, any person, irrespective of any disability like being deaf, dumb, blind, or ordinarily insane, may create a will provided that at the time of creation of the will, they are of sound mind and aware of the consequences of their action.

Assuming that your brother died after the death of your father, half the property was already under the ownership of your brother. After his intestate death, his property shall devolve upon his legal heirs, as per section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. Here, his two sons are his legal heirs, and therefore the property may devolve upon them.

If your brother died before the death of your parents, then one of the legatee is now a person not in existence at the time of execution of the will, therefore you may receive the share of property that you were bequeathed to as per the will, and the rest of the property will be considered as residual property,and since you are the only surviving legal heir of your father, it shall devolve upon you.

 

I hope this helps. Thank you for your time and patience!

 

Regards,

Aadil


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