Dear Madam,
I live in USA and own a 5 bedroom house in Sindhi colony in Bangalore’s Cox Town area. Whenever I ask my brother to get a loan on this property, he always says we cannot do so as the said property is in Sindhi colony and no bank will give us a loan as the property cannot be registered. When we bought the property, we just changed the names and gave all the papers to Sindhi Association. Is it true that we have to register the property in order to take a loan on the same? I have been living here (USA) for nearly 18 years.
Kishore

Dear Kishore,
It is not clear exactly what the problem is. There are many houses in Sindhi colony which have been sold, to my knowledge. It appears that a sale deed has not been executed in your name. If this is so, you will not be able to raise a loan. 

Dear Madam,
My questions are:
1) Does the son of the family get a share in stridhana property? If yes, what is his share?
2) Apart from a suit, can we go for the settlement via statement in the court by our council?
Rupesram

Dear Rupesram,

No one has any right on a woman’s stridhan property. It is the absolute property of the woman concerned. A settlement is always an option open to all litigants.

Dear Madam,
A property was allotted to my grandfather during 1934-35 by the then Mysore City Municipality, Mysore, after the formation of V V Mohalla Layout. He executed the will in June 1959, by dividing the site into two and bequeathing one to each of his sons.

My grandfather expired in February 1962. I am the son of one of the sons, M S Hiriyannaiah. The other son, Dr M S Narasimha Murthy, expressed his desire to give the scheduled property at Mysore to my daughter, Miss Archana (minor), and with myself as the guardian and the entitled operator. Accordingly, the will and testament of Dr M S Narasimha Murthy was executed at the office of the Sub-Registrar, Jayanagar.

He executed GPA in my name, (the GPA is unregistered and signed by notary and advocate, and made in India with two witnesses). I understand that any property should have sale deed / title deed, khata certificate, encumbrance certificate and up-to-date tax paid receipt.

I have all the documents for the above property except sale deed / title deed. In this connection I enquired in MUDA, Mysore, to get the title deed. I understand from them that the GPA made in Bangalore, is not valid. However, Dr Narasimha Murthy has to make another GPA in America to get title deed.

Is this requirement correct? Apart from the will copy of my grandfather, khata certificate, encumbrance certificate and up-to-date tax receipt, we don’t have any other documents. What are the other documents required to get the title deed and also the fees incurred in this matter and in future, to transfer the property to my daughter, or to sell the property to anyone?
H Ashok Kumar

Dear H Ashok Kumar,

A will can take effect only after the demise of the testator. A GPA can be used in your capacity as agent of the testator until the time of his death. A valid GPA ought to be notorised / attested by embassy if executed outside India and then adjudicated in India with proper stamp duty. If executed in India, it should be registered. Using a valid GPA you can sell the property or gift it during the lifetime of the testator.

The stamp duty and registration fee will approximately be 10% of the guideline value or if a higher value is shown, then on the value shown on the sale deed. If that happens, the registered will made earlier in favour of your daughter, will lapse. Regarding the parent sale deed, you could try to get the sale deed executed now by MUDA in favour of the present owner. Even otherwise the title is perfected by long, open, continuous and peaceful possession.

NOTE: The author is a practising advocate specialising in real estate matters. You may e-mail your questions to 1.vatsala@gmail.com. Please mark your mail with `Legal Angle’ in the subject line. You may also write to us at: The Editor, Legal Angle, Deccan Herald, 75, MG Road, Bangalore - 560001.Disclaimer: All the answers provided herein are of a general nature. It is advisable to get specific legal advice after furnishing detailed history of each individual case.