The process of buying and selling of immovable properties has become complex and the people who make things happen have increased. Now, you will have to deal with real estate brokers/agents, appraisers, financiers, lawyers and other personalities that will be needed in the process. It is better to get the right people to represent you and protect you from possible unusual circumstances.
Availing of the services of professionals is the first step in protecting yourself from fraud. These professionals know indicators of bad deals and they can easily advise you on your possible next moves to avoid negative experience.
The best person to protect you from frauds is a real estate lawyer. You have to find one who will only be loyal to you and nobody else. He is the person to trust and he is responsible for protecting your interest. You have to make sure that you will be hiring somebody who is trustworthy, experienced and credible. Sometimes there is a higher price tag for this type of lawyer but it is surely worth the difference in price when you get somebody you really do not know. In your hiring process, never trust recommendations without doing your background check.
When you already have a trusted real estate lawyer, you can avoid fraud by not signing any document that your lawyer did not approve. There are many cases when people sign documents without the advice of the lawyer and end up discovering that there are stipulations in the document that were not agreed on. Always use the services of your lawyer whatever is your concern. You have to be honest and tell him about your observations and listen to him as he will always have recommendations that can make you benefit even more.
The most important way to avoid fraud is to know what the law says. You also have to do due diligence in updating yourself about the state of the real estate industry and improve on your level of understanding in the field. The knowledge that you gain can make you do away with suspicious and fake dealings.
Hindu Undivided Family
How does Hindu Undivided Family come into existence under Hindu Law as well as under Income-tax Act, 1961?
The concept of HUF under Hindu law as well as Income-tax Act, 1961 is the same. As stated earlier, HUF is purely a creature of law and cannot be created by an act of parties (except in case of adoption and reunion). A HUF is a fluctuating body, its size increases with birth of a male member in the family and decreases on death of a member of the family. Females go and come into HUF on marriage. In case of a sole male Hindu, strictly speaking, a HUF comes to existence automatically upon his marriage. It has been held by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Gowli Buddanna v/s. CIT [(1966) 60 ITR 293 (SC)] that to constitute a joint Hindu family, it is not necessary that there has to be more than one coparcener in the family; a husband and wife can validly constitute a HUF.
Whether a single person can constitute HUF?
No. A single person cannot constitute HUF. There has to be minimum two members to constitute a HUF.
Can a son being a member of HUF consisting of his father, himself and his brothers, form an HUF consisting of himself, his wife and minor son?
Under Hindu law, there can be a HUF within a HUF. Therefore, a son can have his own smaller HUF while he continues to be a member of his father's HUF. In his father's HUF, he is merely a member and in his own HUF, he is the Karta.
What is HUF Property?
A property owned by a HUF is HUF property. A HUF can acquire properties from various sources viz., on partition, by way of gift, through will, accretion to the existing properties, blending, by joint labour, etc. However, after the codification of major aspects of Hindu law in 1956, the concept of ancestral property is considerably diluted, as there is now a clear demarcation between individual property and HUF property of a Hindu male. Self acquired property of a Hindu male will pass on to his legal heirs as per the rules of succession and the legal heirs receive the property as individual property. So also the share of the deceased co-parcener in HUF, which otherwise devolves by survivorship to other co-parcener goes by succession to legal heirs, which they hold as separate property, if such co-parcener has left certain class of female relatives or a male relative who claims through such female relative, specified in Class I of the first schedule to Hindu Succession Act, 1956.
Whether a family that does not own any property can have the character of Hindu joint family?
Yes, the concept of HUF is not related to possession of any property by the family nor the existence of such joint property is an essential pre-condition for constituting a HUF. This is because Hindus get joint family status by birth and joint property is simply an adjunct to the joint family.
Can a coparcener blend his self-acquired property with that of HUF? Whether such blending of individual property with that of HUF requires consent of other members of the family? Can the act of the coparcener blending individual property into HUF be considered as revocable transfer? Is it necessary for the HUF to have any ancestral property prior to receiving the property from one of the coparceners?
[i] Yes, a co-parcener can blend his self-acquired property with that of HUF by throwing his individual or self-acquired property into family hotchpot or by impressing such property with the character of HUF property.
[ii] No, the act of blending does not require consent of other members of the family. The act is an unilateral act and is a matter of individual volition. There is no question of family either accepting it or rejecting it. Such blending does not constitute a transfer.
How does Hindu Undivided Family come into existence under Hindu Law as well as under Income-tax Act, 1961?
The concept of HUF under Hindu law as well as Income-tax Act, 1961 is the same. As stated earlier, HUF is purely a creature of law and cannot be created by an act of parties (except in case of adoption and reunion). A HUF is a fluctuating body, its size increases with birth of a male member in the family and decreases on death of a member of the family. Females go and come into HUF on marriage. In case of a sole male Hindu, strictly speaking, a HUF comes to existence automatically upon his marriage. It has been held by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Gowli Buddanna v/s. CIT [(1966) 60 ITR 293 (SC)] that to constitute a joint Hindu family, it is not necessary that there has to be more than one coparcener in the family; a husband and wife can validly constitute a HUF.
Whether a single person can constitute HUF?
No. A single person cannot constitute HUF. There has to be minimum two members to constitute a HUF.
Can a son being a member of HUF consisting of his father, himself and his brothers, form an HUF consisting of himself, his wife and minor son?
Under Hindu law, there can be a HUF within a HUF. Therefore, a son can have his own smaller HUF while he continues to be a member of his father's HUF. In his father's HUF, he is merely a member and in his own HUF, he is the Karta.
What is HUF Property?
A property owned by a HUF is HUF property. A HUF can acquire properties from various sources viz., on partition, by way of gift, through will, accretion to the existing properties, blending, by joint labour, etc. However, after the codification of major aspects of Hindu law in 1956, the concept of ancestral property is considerably diluted, as there is now a clear demarcation between individual property and HUF property of a Hindu male. Self acquired property of a Hindu male will pass on to his legal heirs as per the rules of succession and the legal heirs receive the property as individual property. So also the share of the deceased co-parcener in HUF, which otherwise devolves by survivorship to other co-parcener goes by succession to legal heirs, which they hold as separate property, if such co-parcener has left certain class of female relatives or a male relative who claims through such female relative, specified in Class I of the first schedule to Hindu Succession Act, 1956.
Whether a family that does not own any property can have the character of Hindu joint family?
Yes, the concept of HUF is not related to possession of any property by the family nor the existence of such joint property is an essential pre-condition for constituting a HUF. This is because Hindus get joint family status by birth and joint property is simply an adjunct to the joint family.
Can a coparcener blend his self-acquired property with that of HUF? Whether such blending of individual property with that of HUF requires consent of other members of the family? Can the act of the coparcener blending individual property into HUF be considered as revocable transfer? Is it necessary for the HUF to have any ancestral property prior to receiving the property from one of the coparceners?
[i] Yes, a co-parcener can blend his self-acquired property with that of HUF by throwing his individual or self-acquired property into family hotchpot or by impressing such property with the character of HUF property.
[ii] No, the act of blending does not require consent of other members of the family. The act is an unilateral act and is a matter of individual volition. There is no question of family either accepting it or rejecting it. Such blending does not constitute a transfer.
[iii] No, once blending is done, it is not revocable. There is no provision for retransfer, directly or indirectly, of the whole or any part of the income or assets to the transferor. As such, there is no question of blending being regarded revocable transfer for the purpose of Income-tax Act, 1961.
[iv] No, it is not necessary for the HUF. Even an empty hotchpot can receive and hold any property that is thrown into it by the co-parcener.
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