Your property-related legal queries answered by S.C. RAGHURAM, Partner, RANK Associates, a Chennai-based law firm

I live in an apartment complex comprising 23 flats. One family runs a tuition centre from their home and residents are inconvenienced by the visiting children as they are noisy and also damage the walls. A warning given to the said family by the Association was ignored. The Association is not registered. How do we proceed?

V.Sundararajan

Chennai

Firstly, your Association has tobe registered. No commercial activity can be carried on in premises approved as residential apartments. The Association, after registration, can initiate appropriate proceedings in court and obtain suitable directions.

A property inTiruvarur district is in my late father’s name. After my father’s demise in 1969, my brother and I had decided to sell the property at a later stage. Post the sudden demise of my brother, his wife claims she has an unregistered Will written by my father that mentions the property belongs to her. How do I claim my share of the property?

C. Santhakumari

Chennai

In the absence of a valid Will, and assuming that you and your brother were the only surviving legal heirs, the property will devolve equally upon both of you. After the demise of your brother, his share alone will go to his legal heirs. If there had been a valid Will, the property has to be dealt with as stated in the Will. You can initiate legal proceedings for partition and separate possession of your share. The Will, if any, will then surface and the court will decide the validity or otherwise of the said Will.