Legal Validity of Plain Paper Agreements

The essential conditions of a valid contract are informed consent, consideration and lawful object and such agreements are enforceable under the Indian Contract Act, 1872. Even oral agreements are valid in India, as per the act. The Contract Act does not make stamping of agreements compulsory. It does not make an unstamped agreement/contract thereby invalid or unenforceable. Therefore, an agreement does not require mandatory stamping to make it a legal and valid instrument.

Law on Co-owner selling his Undivided Share

A co-owner in a joint property can sell his undivided share of property to anyone. But he cannot sell the specific piece of land with marked boundaries from the joint property. A selling of a share of property by co-owner in essence means the buyer steps into the shoes of his seller. The buyer is clothed with all the rights and liabilities of his transferor. So, the buyer becomes as much a co-owner as his transferor was before the property transfer.

Land Tax Record Confers no Title of the Land

Mutation is the last event in the transfer of property from one person to another. Execution of the transfer deed and its registration are the two events that take place normally before the event of mutation. Mutation indicates the change of the name of the land holder for the purpose of making payment of land tax to the government. Mutation happens on three occasions: when a sale takes place, when an owner dies with a Will, or when an owner dies intestate without leaving a Will.

Power of Attorney & Its legal Provisions

A Power of Attorney (PoA) is a legal instrument signed or executed by a person who, by this instrument, empowers another person to act for or perform something on his behalf. The person gives authority is called as the donor or principal, the person so authorised is called donee or agent. The legal authority given by the principal to the agent may be broad or limited. The agent can legally do what he is specifically authorised to do by the instrument in clear terms. The power of attorney should be clear and understandable. There may be possibility of giving ‘Power Of Attorney’ by two or more persons jointly to one or more persons.

Succession, Legal Heirship & related Certificates

Legal Heirship Certificate (LHC), Succession Certificate (SC) and Letters of Administration (LoA) have close relation. They serve a common purpose – they are being used for devolution of some rights on the property of a person died intestate, to their legal descendants.   The above said certificates, because of their misleading names, create some confusion in the minds of not only ordinary people but also some learned lawyers also. This write-up intends to bring in some clarity in regard to the basic nature of those certificates governing inheritance and succession.

Family Settlement : Its legal Status

A family settlement is an agreement mutually worked out by a settler among his family or by family members among themselves as to how the common property should be distributed and hold separately in accordance with the agreement. It settles the division or distribution of common property that the family members already own as a common property. It can be used to dispose of a self-acquired property in consideration of marriage or for any charitable or religious purpose.