Q.790 Protecting Property in

India from Fraudulent Transactions

Question: Dear Mr Chand, I am an OCI card holder living in UK. I have a brother and sister living in India. My mother died 5 months ago. There are properties and agricultural land in my mother's and her sisters name. Can my extended family sell or transact these properties without my knowledge claiming I am not available. Is there anything I can do to prevent such transactions. The said properties are in Kerala. I was advised to sent a request to the District Collector and Village officer citing my case and asking for assistance as a preventive measure. Please advise if this is the right thing to do. Thank you for your time and support. Yours sincerely Radhika R Answer: Personally I doubt that just by sending a request to the District Collector and Village officer your property would be protected from fraudulent transactions. Where property is located in India and a shareholder of the property resides abroad, it is perhaps next to impossible to protect your property from fraudulent deals. Fraudulent deals are quite common these days. Have you ever heard of mutation? In Kerala I believe it is referred to as Pookuvaravu. Mutation of a property is the process to update the property records and record the name of the new owner. This could be for property purchased or inherited from a deceased person. In case of inheritance after the death of the owner, the property should be mutated. Mutation helps in updating the property records in the concerned revenue department for property tax purposes. Even though there is no real transfer of title by mutation, the names of the legal heirs become part of the tax documents. A smart property purchaser these days should and perhaps will ask for a copy of the latest mutation. What you need is to contact a lawyer to protect your interest in the inherited property. A few things you might want to think about, get information about or seek advice on: • Plan a visit to the property and speak to a local lawyer whom you can trust on the best way to protect/sell your share of the property. • Generally mutation applications should be made within six months of the death of the deceased. Has this been done? • Consider Keeping in touch with your relatives to know what is being done to the property of which you are a share owner. Perhaps one of the co-owners, your brother or sister may consider buying your share! • Take steps to gather relevant documents that may be required in case of a dispute or sale of your share of the property. For instance a Will. • Generally as far as property ownership goes, where a property ownership record is in the name of a women, on her death if there is no Will, her husband and children generally become equal shareholders of the property. • If your edibility of being a legal heir is confirmed take steps to pay your share of taxes for the property • Seek legal advice if you have to make a power of attorney document of any sort concerning your share of the property.