Share
My sister and I had been leading our married life with our families away from Kolkata and so when our father passed away in 1980 leaving a house in Kolkata wherein our mother and our brother (with his wife and children) used to live along with our late father, my sister & I gave a power of attorney to our brother to deal with any house related issues while we stayed away. In 2008 our mother also passed away and then our brother & his family continued to live in the house where he added rooms and undertook to do much renovation work. In 2018 our brother also passed away and currently the widow of our brother i.e. our sister-in-law stays there alone.Our query is multifold:- (1) If we feel, can my sister and I stay in our father’s house mentioned above even if our sister-in-law might not be willing mentally, (2) If our sister-in-law or in her absence, her children decide to sell-off this house, then how much share of the proceeds will my sister and I get, (3) Can my sister & I on our own decide to sell-off the house since our sister-in-law can stay with her well-settled son in Bengaluru & (4) If we cannot sell-off right now, will our children along with the children of our late brother be able to share proceeds of such sell-off in our absence in the future?
Question
My sister and I had been leading our married life with our families away from Kolkata and so when our father passed away in 1980 leaving a house in Kolkata wherein our mother and our brother (with his wife and children) used to live along with our late father, my sister & I gave a power of attorney to our brother to deal with any house related issues while we stayed away. In 2008 our mother also passed away and then our brother & his family continued to live in the house where he added rooms and undertook to do much renovation work. In 2018 our brother also passed away and currently the widow of our brother i.e. our sister-in-law stays there alone.
Our query is multifold:- (1) If we feel, can my sister and I stay in our father’s house mentioned above even if our sister-in-law might not be willing mentally, (2) If our sister-in-law or in her absence, her children decide to sell-off this house, then how much share of the proceeds will my sister and I get, (3) Can my sister & I on our own decide to sell-off the house since our sister-in-law can stay with her well-settled son in Bengaluru & (4) If we cannot sell-off right now, will our children along with the children of our late brother be able to share proceeds of such sell-off in our absence in the future?
Answer ( 1 )
Since your father has died intestate, the property would be divided between all the children equally. You and your sister have equal right over the property with your brother’s wife however you cannot sell the property without her consent because she is co-owner of the property. it is advisable to get the property mutated in all the three persons name on the basis of the legal heir certificate/succession certificate.
You and your sister can live in the same house even your brother wife doesnt want you to because you both have share equal to hers. further if the house is sold by anyone then the sale proceeds will be equally divided in all the three owners i.e. you, your sister and your brother’s wife. in your absence in future, likewise all the legal heirs to the property can share the sale proceeds in the same ratio of their descendant i.e. if you are not alive, your share devolves on your children (if two then your share will be equally divided between the two) likewise for the other share holders too.