My son-in-law’s father made a settlement deed between himself, his elder brother and his father in 1972. My son-in-law is not aware of the property and its income. Now, his father is critically ill. If anything happens suddenly, what are the legal steps to be taken by my son-in-law in order to retrieve his inherited property from his uncle and his cousin? Can he take legal action to get a part of the income from the property for his family and his mother, since his father has all of a sudden stopped giving money for the family? As his father is concealing all his income, we need guidance from you.

K.P. Rajan

Chennai

The document mentioned in your query as executed in the year 1972 must have been a Deed of Partition. If the property dealt with therein was ancestral, your son-in-law would have a share over the property allotted to his father. A copy of the said document along with the family tree would have to be perused for a comprehensive opinion on this aspect.

My father purchased a 4,300 sq. ft land in 1976 from a real estate owner at Payanur village near Mahabalipuram with a registered document. Now I applied for EC I found that there is no name of my father in the EC after 1982.

In the manual EC, my father’s name is available up to 1982. While checking in computer records after 1982, I found that our land is registered under some other person’s name. We did not collect patta from the Revenue Department. How do I get the patta to solve this problem?

Rizwan

Pallikarnai

An Encumbrance Certificate (EC) is a record of all registered transactions pertaining to the property for which the same is applied for. Your father’s purchase will only figure in the EC for the period covering the year 1976.

If he had not dealt with the property subsequently, the EC for subsequent years i.e., from 1977 till date, will not reflect any entry.

If the name of some third party is disclosed in the EC, you have to obtain a certified copy of the document reflected in the EC, and check whether your father’s property has been dealt with fraudulently.

If the entry figuring in the EC does not relate to your father’s property, you need not worry about that entry.

My mother-in-law is 69 and has three sons. She is a widow, and her other two sons are abroad. She stays with us and the house belongs to her and her three sons.

She wants to give her jewellery and her share in the house to my daughter and son.

She says this to me repeatedly but the problem is she has started losing her memory.

Upon her death, will her other two sons accept that she wanted the jewellery and her share in the house to be given to my children?

If she writes a will now, stating her wishes clearly, will it be accepted by the courts and prevent us from any misunderstandings in future with her other two sons?

Kalyani S

Chennai

She can execute a Will, clearly indicating the manner in which her assets have to be distributed after her lifetime.

For doing so, she must be in normal state of mind and capable of understanding the effect of her acts.

In the alternative, she can execute and register Deed(s) of Settlement in respect of the house property in conformity with her intentions and deal with the jewellery and other movables in her Will.

Any document executed by her should be supported by two sound witnesses to prove later, if necessary, that she was fully aware of the consequences of her actions.

Please consult a lawyer and ensure that any document executed will stand the test of law in future.

I intend to sell my bungalow in Chennai.

It has two portions (ground and first floor), and each portion has a separate kitchen and access areas.

Can I get the benefit

of investing part of the sale proceeds in two installments in tax saving bonds by two separate sale deeds in two consecutive financial years? What is the more financially viable option?

Radhey Mohan

Chennai

It is possible to sell both

the units separately with proportionate undivided

share of land based on

built-up area of each unit.

As regards the tax implications, please consult your chartered accountant.

In 1995, my wife and I purchased two plots at Kakkan Nagar, West Velachery (sold by Tamilnadu Slum Clearance Board).

In 2006, they were registered at the sub-registrar’s office in Velachery.

On approaching the Tahsildar office, Taramani, for obtaining a patta, they asked us to obtain a no-objection certificate from TNSCB.

Officials at TNSCB say the taluk office has to issue the patta as all the recorded details would have been transferred to the Tahsildar’s office.

What are the guidelines for obtaining a patta? We are senior citizens and struggling to get this done since 2007.

Chennai

In the absence of any stipulations or conditions contained in the duly executed sale deed in favour of the purchasers, there is no need for obtaining NOC from TNSCB at this point of time. Based on the sale deed and other documents required by the authorities, you can follow up with the Tahsildar having jurisdiction for issuance of patta in both your names.

If it is unreasonably withheld, please consult your lawyer for further course of action.

I own a flat in Chrompet in a building that has four apartment units. All three parking spaces there have registered owners. Currently no owners occupy the houses and all the three parking are lying vacant. The owners do not permit parking in these spots. Am I eligible to park my car in the space?

Venkataramanan Rajaraman

Chennai

The recitals of the relevant documents have to be looked into to ascertain how the rest of the three owners ‘registered’ the car parking spaces in their names. If they are shown as ‘garage’ and were part of approved building plans, the same could have been registered in the names of these owners. If the spaces were open and shown as falling under non FSI area, the same have to be treated as common area and can be used by all the owners. If the owners are not using it, you can use the samefor parking.

I signed a construction agreement with a builder in December 2011. I paid for 2,443 sq.ft. as saleable area for a 3 bedroom flat. As per the agreement, the common area was 452 sq.ft., amenities area was 112 sq.ft. , wall area 216 sq.ft., and floor area 1663 sq.ft. The flat overdue by 22 months is yet to be handed over. I have a signed document stating that when the measurement was taken by the builder’s engineer in my presence, the carpet area was only 1,556 sq.ft. and the wall area was 308 sq.ft.. I have been denied 107 sq.ft. of carpet area on the grounds that the total plinth area (carpet area plus wall area) is correct.

There is not even an acknowledgement to my repeated communications that this is a definite breach of contract and the excess amount collected for reduced carpet area has to be given credit. Due to the inordinate and continuing delay I have been put to major losses and now 107 sq.ft. has been reduced.

I understand that normally wall area constitutes 10 per cent of the carpet area but up to 15 per cent can be allowed. In my case it is 20 per cent.

Chennai

As per the provisions of Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, the carpet area means net usable floor area of an apartment excluding the area covered by external walls, areas under service shafts, exclusive balcony, veranda or open space area but includes the areas covered by internal walls. The Act applies to ongoing projects as well. You may ask the developer to provide a statement signed by the developer’s architect certifying the correct extent of carpet area according to the above and work out your cost based on the same.