Safeguards to purchase ancestral property from seller

533 votes

You will have to inquire into the conditions in which the seller is selling away the ancestral property.
If is a Karta of a HUF (Hindu Undivided Family) he is having all the powers to manage the family and its assets under the Hindu law. However, he don’t have an absolute independent, individual ownership of the property and each coparcener has share, right, title and interest in the ancestral property.

There are some provisions wherein he can sell ancestral property being Karta of HUF as mentioned in Mitakshara. Firstly, during the time of distress, secondly for the sake or benefit of the family and thirdly for pious purposes like religious work. Here ‘Time of Distress’ means the requirement that affects the whole family, like a case of legal necessity.

Similarly, whereas ‘For the sake of the family’ means for its maintenance of the home, ‘pious purposes’ includes indispensable acts of duty such as the obsequies of the ancestors and other religious works. For the Sake of the Family may also include selling the property for family necessity and benefit.

If he is a Coparcener then a coparcener can sell his interest in the ancestral property for that he needs to ask his share out from the ancestral property. For it he may file a suit for partition at any time. The settled law is that if some purchaser has bought the portion of a coparcener in the ancestral property he cannot compel him to file a suit for partition; it is the choice of the coparcener to decide as to when he would like to put an end to the status of the jointness and be separate in property.

Advocate Siddhant Sharma LawRato

899 votes

Please make sure before purchase of property to vet all the documents legally. It will cost you few thousands but will save lakhs from fictitious deals. You can meet me with all the documents for safe purchase.

Advocate Geetha D Philip LawRato