Property and land has been invested into and created by families over years. The assets are created so that they are either enjoyed by the owner himself. From time immemorial; families have had feuds over the property and land. Families have suffered hugely in terms of endless litigation over generations, deaths and traumas in families, criminal cases etc. It will wrong to say that these disputes only run in the families; there are innumerable cases where there are close friends or third parties who claim stake or 100% ownership/possessory rights in the property. Most of the disputes fall in the categories of:

• Trespassing or claiming possession of the property
• Claim ownership of the property
• Separation/partition of a joint family property/land

TRESPASSING OR CLAIMING POSSESSION OF THE PROPERTY

Possession is stated as points of ownership as per law. It is important for any owner of the property to keep the possessory rights with him. In situations where the owner is residing outside the city or country; protecting the property becomes primal concern. Therefore the property is either given to a friend, relative or tenant to ensure the property is intact in the absence of the owner. It becomes a cause of concern when the owner wishes to return to the property and the occupant refuses to vacate. Can the owner do anything about it or just let go off his property created or inherited to the unscrupulous relatives or friends?? The owner has the complete legal rights to approach the court of law for seeking the possession of his house. Whether a suit for eviction or possession or Suit of Mandatory Injunction will totally depend on the facts of the case. Additionally profits for illegal occupation must also be claimed through the court. The other aspect if any person who has illegally entered into your property. It is called trespassing. The owner of the property not only has the right to file case in the court but also file a criminal complaint against such a trespasser. It is important for such owners especially persons residing abroad (NRI or PIO) or a house owner living in different city:

• If you are an owner of a house and you have decided to give the house to relative or a friend only for purposes of care taking; enter into proper drafted agreement that of a care taker to be categoric as to the rights of the caretaker and that at any stage he cannot take undue advantage of your absence.
• If the house is given to a tenant; enter in to a rent agreement and the rent must be deposited into the bank accounts.
• No power of attorney or any blank documents to be signed and handed over to the relative or friend.
• It is most important that the ownership documents such as the registered deeds and documents of the property are in your custody. PLEASE DO NOT HAND THESE DOCUMENTS TO ANY PERSON.
• Please ensure you visit or have some person visit the property regularly.

CLAIMING OWNERSHIP OF THE PROPERTY

Circumstances occur quite often where your own blood or the closest friend or may be a third party taking advantage of the faith and trust reposed in them; claim ownership of the property (house/land). The claim could be based on any of the following:

• An alleged Will
• Deeds executed by a power of attorney
• Forged agreements
• False facts and documents submitted to government authorities

AN ALLEGED WILL

On death of a person; as per law it is his children, widow and mother who inherit the property in equal shares unless there is a Will left by the deceased. Each child or heir or a another party might want the assets solely in their name or may be unequally distributed based on a Will. There are many cases in the past that we have seen where false Wills have been created by parties trying to usurp the share of their brothers and sisters or other family members. There are many cases where children influence parents or take undue advantage of their ill health and forcibly make them sign a Will taking away the right others. However, such a Will if becomes into the knowledge of the testator himself can cancel it. If such a false or fabricated document is propounded by the beneficiary after the death of the owner of the property, the aggrieved must immediately on attaining knowledge approach the competent court seeking appropriate orders have the Will set aside. It is incumbent especially for Non Resident Indians to note the following:

• Where the property; make a registered Will in India and has two witness who will step into the witness box (where the Will is challenged).
• In case where the parents have died and there are properties back home; the local authorities must be approached to have transferred/mutated in the names of the legal heirs. This step is immediate to avoid any third party claims etc.

DEEDS ON THE BASIS OF A POWER OF ATTORNEY

Often when a person is residing abroad, he grants powers to his close family and friends to look after his estate . The powers are either given oral arrangements or power of attorney. It has happened in various cases where trust is reposed in friends and family and they have taken undue advantage of the same and misused the power of attorney given to them. The property is then illegally transferred or self to third parties without the consent of the owner of the property. It is based on the power of attorney which was taken under the garb of a mere authority for looking after the property. At times there are also claims on ownership based on forged power of attorney; It is a case where the relative taking advantage of the absence of the owner, drawa false documents such as the power of attorney and sell or transfer the property. The remedy of approaching the court is always there with the owner to seek appropriate reliefs such set aside of any deed or recovery of money etc. A complaint to the police is also a must in such cases of fraud. Important Points to be Remembered:

• Never issue general power if attorney to any person.
• Only issue special power of attorney for specific purpose and on completion; it is imperative to revoke the attorney and take the original in your custody.
• Never handover the original documents of your property to any person.

FORGED AGREEMENTS

There have been cases where the persons living in India have created false paperwork in order to assert a right on the property of a person living abroad. Forged and fabricated agreements to sell are created to claim an illegal right on the property. There are false cases then filed on the owners who are living abroad so as to claim the right on the property.

FALSE FACTS

Many times it so happens that false facts such as names of all the children of the deceased are not given to the government officials and the facts are concealed when getting the properties transferred. For example there are cases where the father has three sons and four daughters; the brothers do not inform the authorities about the sisters and get the property illegally transferred in their names. These are grounds which amount to fraud and are subject to criminal implications along with filing a civil suit and applications to authorities to set aside the transfer.

SEPERATION AND PARTITION OF PROPERTY

It is commonly seen that the properties inherited are mostly held in joint names. There is no person who can individually enjoy the possession or ownership of the property. It is rightly said that a person if a co-sharer; he is a co-sharer in each part of the property unless it is partitioned and share i.e. there is physical division of the property. The common dispute occurs when each party equally owns the property and one party is enjoying all the benefits such a rent; profits or may be has taken the area adjacent to the road which is more valuable etc. The point remains as to why should one party suffer at the behest of the other. ONLY BECAUSE HE IS PHYSICALLY NOT PRESENT TO LOOK AFTER THE ASSETS IN INDIA.  He has the remedy. It is important for him to pursue the remedy of a Suit for Partition and get the share separated. The teams here at the legal help India division are trained and have the expertise to handle the disputes for Non Resident Indians. They understand that it is difficult for a person based abroad to travel to India to manage the process at every step. Our teams are equipped not only with the knowledge, expertise to assist in any property dispute. Contact them now for guidance and answering your query.