Property Belongs To Whom?

This is the story of every other middleclass Indian family. Especially the families who do not talk about property/ expense distribution thinking that its ok to take more money from the child who is doing better and distribute it to the lesseer previleged ones. At this point, since your FIL's brother is no more, we do not know what his plans were.

IMHO, if your FIL's brother has spent just about the same amount of money on each of the daughter's wedding and the land on which the house was constructed, his son is right in claiming the whole of the property. Expenses for a simple wedding can be anywhere from 1.5 lakhs to 5 lakhs, depending on the gifts/jewellery exchanged and number of guests invited. Besides that everytime married daughter visits her parents house, she will be gifted with something or the other. If your FIL has invested about the same amount on the land, the son is not wrong in expecting 100 % for himself.Moreover he has invested on it as well. Believe me, 12 lakhs is a big amount of money, moreso a decade ago.

If the son is not interested in taking care of his mother, is he willing to bear the expenses. If not, the daughter who is in India can go to court and demand her share of the property, so that she can atleast cover the expenses that go into taking care of her mother.

I am pretty sure, most NRI's plan to go back to India after a few years in USA. But most of them stay back. And its not easy to get a vacation every few months. He may have had his own reasons for not making frequent visits to India. Good wellpaying jobs are hard to come by. And when he has a family of his own, he may not be willing to tske risks especially if he is the only one who works in the family.

 

with that kind of son, don't know how that 6 months will pass for her, there in her sons place.
even govt passes laws about women rights to get a share in property, with this kind of family politics, what can happen?

 

I am still at a loss to understand why u are not open to the idea of a lawyer but are ok with filing a police complaint?
This is a very straight forward case and a lawyer can easily put a stay on any sale until the issue is resolved. If this is the stand taken by the sibling then talks of reconciliation or family politics dragged into the open is probably moot .

 

He wants it all and he cant have it. And there is no question of dividing it unless its sold and it cannot be sold until all 4 of them sign. Its that simple. The son cannot take the mother physically anywhere unless she is willing. She just stays put where ever she is . What the daughter cannot do is build a house on the existing structure when there is a litigation law suit. She has to bite the bullet and move closer to the mother and wait for her sibling to realize that there is nothing much he can do.

 

Now that the guy has no ethics at all and has stooped so low to blackmail an old lady, it's first of all time to consult the lawyer.

Let the sister come and occupy the first floor. If he won't allow mom to meet me, I won't move out, should be her stand. When the house is occupied, what mother, son and family will land in India.

As for the process, I think first the property should be registered in all their names/ mother's name and then the division happens. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

And since the other sister lives in the US, can she take any legal action there against the brother or at least threaten him of consequences to such blackmail? I don't know the laws there but the guy should be cornered on all sides, then he will understand how it feels to be threatened by kin.

 

Op, The son and daughter are both acting smart here. The son feels entitled becoz he spent for construction. Daughter becoz well she is a daughter and again entitled( remodeling house with such situation).becoz she took care of parents. Nobody wins in this case. The smart thing wud have been your FIL's brother writing a will when he was alive.

Whatever your FIL or anybody thinks, this matter has to go to court. The son is acting like a spoilt brat by telling he will keep his mom in US or wont allow his sister to see mom if she is in India. Is he going to be with her 24/7. Then how can he do it. I am sure he must have pushed the mom to sign away the house in US. But the matter is bigger than confining mom or having her with him in US. The sisters signature is needed to settle the property.With wherever mom is or with her signature. The son is talking in hot air.

Now , this maybe a long shot, but your FIL can convince his SIL to talk to all kids and say that she will make a will forgoing her share provided upon her passing the house can be equally divided between sisters and son.If the property is worth 1.5 crore then 3 shares is almost 50 lakhs each. In that way the mom gets to stay in the house and the property matter is settled. Cant say amicably but just settled.

Nobody is happy in property matters.Unless you are cheeky and smart to usurp everything before parents pass everybody leaves with sour taste in mouth.

My FIL himself passed without a will. My SIL and BIL smartly convinced hubby to sign away major share telling taking care of MIL and FIL . My BIL never left home and being in Indian metro saved considerably in terms of rent. Same with my SIL but they walked away with 90% share and hubby got peanuts. No amount of fights, crying, screaming worked. My FIL inspite of stroke never saw reason to write a will. Now after all this , I don't talk to SIL, co sis or BIL. Nor they do to me.The property matter is just a small matter, but many things like trying to separate my hubby from me constantly has taken its toll on our relationship and now its better not talking.

No amount of your FIL thinking about relatives or society will work, becoz it will come to head soon . I think the mom can call son to India and contact lawyer to draw up papers . If son objects better go to court and have court resolve it. Good Luck.