Family › Family property & inheritance

Suspect a fake will

What usually matters in this situation, and the papers to keep ready before you meet an advocate or free legal aid (call 15100).

Your situation

• Did they leave a will? There is a will but I doubt it

Do these now

• Family tree with all legal heirs (names, ages, alive or not)
  Every claim starts with the list of heirs. Where: Write it; legal heir certificate if available.

Papers to gather

• The will (original or copy), and any probate or registration details
  A will can be challenged on capacity, signatures or suspicious circumstances. Where: Family, sub-registrar if registered.
• Records about the testator's health and situation when the will was signed
  Supports or answers a challenge. Where: Medical records, witnesses.
• Proof of your relationship (birth certificate, school records, ID with parent's name)
  Required to claim. Where: Your records.

You may also need, depending on your answers

• Death certificate — Required for every inheritance step.
• Title deeds: sale deed, gift deed, partition deed, old family documents — Shows ancestral or self-acquired character.
• Land records: record of rights, khata/khatian, 7/12, jamabandi, mutation entries — Shows who is recorded and any changes made.
• Encumbrance certificate (to see if it was sold or mortgaged) — Reveals sales or loans behind your back.
• Property tax and electricity bills — Supports possession and ownership claims.
• Passbooks, policy and share details, nominee details, and the institution's reply — A nominee generally holds money for the legal heirs.
• Any release deed or family settlement you signed — Central to whether a claim survives.
• Papers and orders in any pending case — Avoids duplicate cases.

What the law says

Saboot will also ask

• Whose property is it?
• Which law applies to the family?
• What kind of property is involved?
• How did the family get the main property?
• What is the dispute?
• What is your relationship to the person whose property it is?

Similar situations

• Brothers not giving sisters their share of father’s property
• Father died without a will — how is property divided?
• Want my share of ancestral land partitioned
• Muslim family property share
• Christian family property share
• Relatives selling family property without my consent
• Widow’s share in husband’s property
• Gold or jewellery of a deceased parent taken by one sibling

Sources

• Hindu Succession Act, 1956
• Indian Succession Act, 1925 and Registration Act, 1908

The full guide: Family property — inheritance, partition, will or daughters' share · All situations