Transfer of immovable property results in the conveyance of property rights, i.e. title, rights, interest in the property by one person to another.
The property can be transferred by the person having rights to do so. Generally, it is the owner of the property or the person authorized to do so.
Any document showing the ownership of the property/land in the name of a person is a title deed. E.g. in case of sale of a property, sale deed is the title deed.
In the case of ancestral property, the ownership is verified from the record of the land registration department.
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What is the ancestral property?
Ancestral property is the property which has passed on up to four generations, including the owner, without any division. The coparceners (a small unit of lineal descendants of a common ancestor within the undivided Hindu family) have a birthright in the ancestral property.
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Only the Karta of the family (Karta is the head of the Hindu Undivided Family) has the right to alienate the HUF property which may include the ancestral property under certain conditions.
Property inherited from maternal ancestors or obtained by Gift, or Will is not ancestral property.
Whenever a person inherits an ancestral property, it is essential to get it transferred in the name of the beneficiary in revenue records or municipal records.
Modes of transfer and transfer deed:
There are various modes of transfer of immovable property like transfer by sale, gift, lease, and mortgage. The transfer takes place vide instrument called transfer deed. As per the nature of transfer, the deed can be sale deed, lease deed, mortgage deed etc.
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Transfer of ancestral land:
Ancestral land can also be transferred. The coparceners who have right over the ancestral property can transfer their respective shares or interest in the property. If the ancestral land is divided among the family members or there is a partition of the property, the property ceases to be ancestral. The share which each member gets after partition becomes the self-acquired property.
There can be a transfer of share or interest by coparcener (co-owner) without actual partition of entire ancestral land. In some parts of the land, consent of co-owners, i.e. the consent of other coparceners, is required. There are other areas where the consent of other coparceners is not needed.
A coparcener can also transfer his share to another coparcener.
However, in any case, the transfer deed must be registered as per Law.
Registration of transfer deed:
The registration of transfer deed can be optional or mandatory as per the Indian Registration Act.
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In some cases, it is mandatory like:
- sale of immovable property if the value of the property exceeds Rs 100
- Lease of immovable property if the lease period is more than 11 months
- Gift deed
If the registration is compulsory, the transfer is not valid if the deed is not registered. It is always better to get the transfer deed registered. The process of registration helps to:
- Create evidence of ownership
- Records the transaction-related to a property for future references
The transfer deed transfers the right or interest in the property to another person called transferee. For a valid transfer, the deed must be registered as per Law. The land registry, i.e. the department for registration records the ownership for the public. Once the document is registered as per Law, it becomes the title deed, i.e. document showing the name of the person holding the title of the property.
The property rights are mentioned in the record maintained by the land registry department.
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