Barely the possession of property documents doesn’t make you a legal owner. A proper transfer of the property is necessary. Many people out there are unaware of things like the law of succession, procedure for the inheritance of property.

First of all, it must be mentioned that in India, each religion has a different succession law. The law of succession and inheritance for Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists are guided by the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. For the Muslims, The Muslim Personal Law Shariat, Application Act (1937), gets applied. But, there are some common procedures and steps to inheriting something.

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Some of the steps that one should keep in mind while inheriting property

  1. First and foremost, the most important thing to do for an individual while claiming the property is to take possession of the testator’s will. It can be done with the application attached to the death certificate of the deceased to the district registrar’s office.
  2. The individual claiming the property must keep in mind that all the debts related to the property must be cleared prior to succession. Otherwise, the inheritor will have to clear all the debts.
  3. In the case of an ambiguous will, legal advice must be taken.
  4. If there is a mention of multiple heirs for a single property then a no objection certificate must be obtained from other heirs to avoid dispute regarding the property.
  5. In case of confirmation of legal ownership of an heir, that heir or individual should apply to the local municipal authority to get the mutation done in his/her name.
  6. If a person does not get his share of property because that individual has been left out of the deceased person’s will, that individual can contest for his/her claim in the court of law.

What happens in case of the absence of a will?

In the case of the absence of a will according to section 8 and 9 of The Hindu Succession Act 1956, the property of the deceased individuals or intestate gets divided among the class one heirs. There can be instances where there is more than one class heir. In that case, section 10 of The Hindu Succession Act 1956 lays down certain rules that must be followed. They are as follows:

  1. The intestate individual’s widow can claim the property. If there is more than one widow present, then each of them can take one share.
  2. The sons, daughters, and the mother of the intestate who is living have the right to claim one share of the property for each of them.
  3. The heirs of the sons and daughters of the departed intestate who have died earlier can claim one share for each of them.

This is how the properties are inherited to the off-spring in case of an individual’s death.