CHENNAI : My two sisters and I entered into Memorandum of Family Arrangement (MFA) after the death of our mother. My father predeceased my mother. As per the MFA, my mother’s property was vested on all the three of us. We constructed flats for three of us on the property and had equal rights over the undivided share. At present, the parent documents are with me. But as per MFA, it should be kept with one of my sisters. One of my sisters is interested in selling her flat. So how do I protect my interest when the parent documents will be kept by my sister/s or handed over to the prospective buyer of my sister’s flat.
— Anonymous
If the original documents are to be kept with your sister, and if she is going to sell her portion of the property, then you can have an arrangement with your sister to appoint an escrow agent with whom the original title deeds will be kept. Parties can have access to that agent for perusal. In this arrangement, you can keep the original title deeds with a neutral party. Of course you may have to pay some fee for the escrow agent. It can be anyone who has the confidence of both sides.
My friend passed away last month. He has a daughter and a son. What is the procedure if they want to sell the property? — Krishnamurthy VenkatramanYour friend’s family will not have any difficulty in selling the property. However, they will have to show the legal heir certificate issued by the local Tahsildar.
My friend made a settlement deed on a self-earned house property worth `1.50 crore in favour of his son without the knowledge of his wife and his two daughters. Since his son is not taking care of his parents, he wants to cancel/revoke the settlement deed. Though the settlement deed cannot be revoked, some of his relatives are misguiding him and saying that according to a recent judgment by Bombay High Court, it can be revoked. Though the settlement deed was made in 2008, the patta, house tax, and EB are still in my friend’s name. So, how can the settlement deed be cancelled.
—KR Mohandoss
The settlement deed cannot be revoked as it pertains to self-earned property. Your friend and his wife will be protected by seeking appropriate maintenance under the Provisions of Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 if the son is not maintaining them. The Revenue Divisional Officer of the area is the competent authority and he can give protection order for the parents.
I am a retired central government staff. I am 76-years-old and I retired on September, 2003. After my first promotion in 1984, I worked in the office of the Chief Engineer, CPWD in Chennai. The CE got approval from the Director General of CPWD, New Delhi, to fix my pay. He fixed it accordingly in 1984. Until my retirement, the Pay and Accounts Officers (PAO) and Accountant Generals officers used to check the service books and other records every year. They checked my books too, and no mistake was found.
owever, a month before my retirement, the PAO said that my pay fixed in 1984 was wrong. He also recovered `30,354 from my pension. After I received my pension in January, 2004, I wrote to them several times but received no reply. Later, I heard about the Supreme Court’s judgment stating that once the payment is done, it should not be recovered. I am not able to go to the court. Is there anyway to get my money back with interest for 15 years? Can I also get any free legal aid and whom should I contact for that? —V Mani
You can approach the High Court Legal Aid Centre (located within the High Court campus) and seek for legal aid to sue your department before the Central Administrative Tribunal failing which you can move the High Court with a writ petition.