Property & Estate Planning

Indian property records are decentralised, paper-heavy, and prone to fraud, title can look clean on the sale deed but be encumbered by an undisclosed mortgage, prior owner claim, or pending litigation. A lawyer pulls the Encumbrance Certificate, traces 30-year chain-of-title, checks mutation and revenue records, verifies RERA registration if applicable, and surfaces what the seller will not.

A will is a written direction by the testator (the person making it) on how to distribute their estate after death, drafted in life. A succession certificate is a court order naming the legal heirs of a person who died without a will (intestate), and is needed to access bank accounts, securities, and insurance proceeds of the deceased. Wills prevent the need for a succession certificate.

File a complaint with the State RERA authority under Section 31 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, RERA can order possession, refund with interest at SBI MCLR + 2 percent, and compensation. In parallel, you can file a Consumer Court complaint under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, or initiate insolvency under Section 7 IBC if the builder is corporate. The right forum depends on the relief you want.

If your father died intestate (without a will), all Class-I legal heirs (sons, daughters, widow, mother) have an equal share under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (amended 2005, daughters now have equal coparcenary rights). You cannot "stop" them, but you can negotiate a family settlement deed that allocates assets fairly without litigation, the Kale v. Director of Consolidation framework. Where settlement fails, a partition suit is the formal path.

Yes. NRIs and OCIs can inherit, hold, and sell ancestral property in India under FEMA. The procedural steps, succession certificate, mutation, registration, are handled in India via a registered Power of Attorney. We file the succession petition, conduct hearings, complete mutation, and arrange FEMA-compliant remittance of any sale proceeds to your NRO/NRE account, all without your physical presence (subject to limited evidence stages where physical attendance may be needed).

For active encroachment, file a civil suit for possession plus a Section 6 Specific Relief Act application for immediate restoration if the dispossession was within 6 months. In parallel, an interim injunction under Order 39 CPC can stop further construction. For criminal trespass (Section 329 BNS), an FIR is also possible. We typically run civil + criminal tracks together for fastest leverage.

Yes, provided the will satisfies the formal requirements of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, in writing, signed by the testator, attested by two witnesses, and disposing of Indian-situs property. NRIs often execute separate wills for India and the foreign jurisdiction; both should reference each other to avoid revocation. Registration in India is optional but recommended for evidentiary weight.