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

My grand father passed away in 1943 and I have a schedule of land records showing a joint property measuring 2.93 acres — belonging to 15 persons — which includes him. The remaining 14 were his kith and kin. The records mention the village’s name and number, taluk name, district name, survey number, old survey/paimash, patta details, and names of other owners.

How do I derive my grandfather’s share? Should I divide the 2.93 acres by 15. How do I get the patta copy today?

Are 1910 A-records available? I have a 1961 A-register extract.

N Harikrishnan

Chennai

You must consult a lawyer to ascertain whether the documents in your custody are complete and adequate to infer title of the present owners. There may be requirements of death and legal heirship certificates, land tax receipts, and patta in the names of the present owners besides no encumbrances disclosed in the encumbrance certificate for the entire period. Once this process is complete, you can get a Deed of Partition or a Deed of Release inter se between the owners depending on the terms agreed between all of you. The information listed in A-register were done at different points of time for different villages. Extracts from A-register and patta can be obtained from the jurisdictional tahsildar’s office.