House inheritance

mithin2006 · Post by **mithin2006** » Mon May 10, 2010 9:16 pm

Not sure if this the right forum but surely is related.

My question is around laws of inhertance of a house in India. My Father-in-Law (lives in India) has verbally told his 3 children that he is dividing the house among them by floor e.g, Daughter 1 gets the first floor, son gets the second floor and daughter 2 opted for the basement. Is this division of house legal and is this an acceptable practice in India for passing on a house to the next generatiopn? Does the person who owns the basement have more right over the house than others?

The house is in a remote location in India and none of the siblings plan to live at that place. Most likely it will be sold after he is no more. I want to be sure that he does the right thing so that there are no issues among siblings after he is gone. Need guidance on what is the law around passing on a house to next generation.

Many thanks.

Caramel · Post by **Caramel** » Mon May 10, 2010 10:54 pm

Sounds like you father-in-law wants to be fair. So he decided to divide equally his property as best as he can. Symbolically, that is what he is conveying. As adults, the children have to get together and decide what best serves their interests after the father passes away. They should amicably come to a consensus and decide what needs to be done. They can sell the property and divide up the proceeds equally or one of them can buy the property and compensate the rest. It might be difficult (in practical terms) for three parties to co-own the property. Just my 2 cents.

mithin2006 · Post by **mithin2006** » Tue May 11, 2010 7:57 pm

Caramel, that is a very idealistic approah as to what should be happen but we all know that issues like this become the cause of tentsion between families. I want to get an assessment on current situation as to whether legally this causes any problem and is this really an equal distribution or one party (basement or ground floor owner) has advanage over others.

Desi · Post by **Desi** » Tue May 11, 2010 10:47 pm

mithin2006;287516Caramel, that is a very idealistic approah as to what should be happen but we all know that issues like this become the cause of tentsion between families. I want to get an assessment on current situation as to whether legally this causes any problem and is this really an equal distribution or one party (basement or ground floor owner) has advanage over others.

If your FIL has verbally told this, then you can verbally tell him that this could create problems as one floor may be construed to have more value than others and suggest that therefore, he should add in the will, that in the event house is sold, he imparts equal share, 1/3rd to each child and all costs of maintenance of the house to be equally shared by children and that he leaves 1/3rd the value of house to each child. Or he can specify in will that house should be sold upon his death and net proceeds after costs to be divided equally among 3 children. He can assign an executor of the will whose job would be to liquidate the house and assign fees for the executor. Any attorney well versed in wills will be able to guide.

jitendrasnv · Post by **jitendrasnv** » Thu May 27, 2010 1:28 pm

mithin2006;287516Caramel, that is a very idealistic approah as to what should be happen but we all know that issues like this become the cause of tentsion between families. I want to get an assessment on current situation as to whether legally this causes any problem and is this really an equal distribution or one party (basement or ground floor owner) has advanage over others.

I agree with you because one of my friend followed the same and got the problem solved.

Thanks