Family Settlement due to Dispute in Property

This article will enlighten you about the Family Dispute which happens due to the property dispute between the family members. The article also discusses about the advantage of family settlement, features and requirement of family settlement. Lastly, the partition suit procedure in India is discussed.

·        A family dispute over wealth or property is a very normal thing that can happen in a low income household as well as in ultra-rich families. This makes a property dispute as very common occurrence in India.

·        What to do in a Family Dispute: A normal course of solving this mater can be going to the court and starting a litigation process. Another way to solve these kinds of matter is by making a settlement between the family members.

·        Advantage: Normal litigation process is very tedious and expensive, and also does not assure any satisfactory resolution. On the other hand, a family settlement is cost effective, and in the end the dispute will be solved.

·        Meaning of Family Settlement: It is an agreement between the family members where they mutually decide on the matter of the distribution of Family property among themselves. All parties should have relation between them and should have a claim to the share of the property.

·        Meaning of Property: Property need not necessarily be real estate, but it also can be movable property like antique, jewellery or money in bank account etc. A settlement is done usually of an ancestral property or a joint project that the family owns, and not of self-acquired property.

·        Partition via Family Settlement Agreement: A family settlement agreement is done in the same manner as a partition deed is done. Also a family settlement doesn’t require registration and stamping. It must be signed by all the members of the family voluntarily, with free consent. The agreement need not be a written document; it can also be in the form of a compromise or by mutual understanding between the family members.

·        Procedure of Family Settlement: The settlement is a done by conciliation process where a third party, who can be a lawyer or a senior member of the family, helps everyone to come to an acceptable agreement. Format of the agreement can be in a single document or several document containing share of each member.

·        Settlement / Partition suit in Family Dispute: The partition suit may be divided into some steps. They are –

1.     Legal Notice to Co-owners – A legal notice has to be send in case a suit is to be filed for the partition of property, to all the co-owners of the property regarding the partition. The legal notice contains the share of each co-owner, the address of the property and the action which is needed to be taken.

2.     Reply from co-owner – A reply is given by the co-owner who receives a notice. But in case no reply is given, or no conclusion is made out,  the person who sent the notice can go ahead with the partition suit in the court.

3.     Filing of Suit – When the suit is suit, the court sees whether the person who is filing the suit is the rightful owner of the property or not. Once the shaeis established, the court may assign individual ownership of the property to its co-owners.

·        Legal Requirement: After the consensus is reached, all the members involved must sign it. Also the document may be attested by two witnesses, it is not mandatory.

·        Registration: The last and final step is to register the agreement. Section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908 says a family settlement over property is not valid if not registered.

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