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Rishabh Shroff

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Co-Head and Partner in the Private Client Practice at the Mumbai office of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas. Rishabh specialises in family constitutions and settlements, trusts, wills and succession planning. He can be reached at rishabh.shroff@cyrilshroff.com

A daughter has an equal right to that of a son on ancestral property
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The Private Client team at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas shares their comments and opinions shared in an article in the  following Q&A which was published by the Mint Newspaper on 1st September, 2020 and the online edition of the same can be found here.

My husband has one brother and one sister. Due to some family issues between my mother-in-law and me, we are not in contact since 2013. In 2017, we came to know that my father-in-law has given all his retirement money to my brother-in-law to purchase a flat worth ₹24 lakh. My in-laws stayed in their ancestor property. Can we get a share in this ancestral property?

—Name withheld on request…
Continue Reading A daughter has an equal right to that of a son on ancestral property

Class I heirs of a woman dying intestate are her husband and children
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The Private Client team at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas shares their comments and opinions shared in an article in the  following Q&A which was published by the Mint Newspaper on 18th August, 2020 and the online edition of the same can be found here.

My father-in-law had a flat. After his death, the house was transferred in my mother-in-law’s name. He didn’t leave any will. After my mother-in-law dies, will the house be divided and given to their three children or can she give it to any one of them?

—Name withheld on request

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Continue Reading Class I heirs of a woman dying intestate are her husband and children

Photo by Robert Eklund on Unsplash

The Private Client team at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas shares their comments and opinions shared in an article which was published by Moneycontrol.com on 12th August, 2020 and the same can be found here.

The Indian judiciary continues to take progressive steps towards making succession law more women friendly. In the landmark case of Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma (Judgment), a 3 judge Bench of the Supreme Court (SC), on August 11th, 2020, held that daughters would have equal coparcenary rights same as that of a son in a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF). The SC clarified two points:

    • Coparcenary rights are acquired by a daughter at birth; and

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Continue Reading What is the impact, do wives benefit and other questions about SC ruling giving daughters equal rights over their father’s property answered

A handwritten will signed by two witnesses is considered valid

The Private Client team at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas shares their comments and opinions shared in an article in the  following Q&A which was published by the Mint Newspaper on 5th August, 2020 and the online edition of the same can be found here.

My father passed away intestate. We are three siblings. My mother and I live in the house owned by my father, and I want this property to be transferred in my mother’s name. My brother and my sister live separately. Is there a way in which the house can be transferred to my mother without any involvement of my brother?

—Omkar

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Continue Reading A handwritten will signed by two witnesses is considered valid

SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES & WILLS

The Supreme Court in the case of Kavita Kanwar v. Mrs. Pamela Mehta (“Kavita Kanwar case”), has extensively discussed certain key factors that may render a will surrounded by suspicious circumstances as invalid.

While drafting, a will may bring up feelings of discomfort, it is one of the key elements of estate planning and ensures that the testator’s wishes for distribution of his or her assets is met. Additionally, it brings about a sense of security in the testator in relation to their assets, and when considered, the advantages of drafting a will, outweigh the temporary discomfort caused by the process.…
Continue Reading Suspicious Circumstances & Wills

Wife can manage late husband’s HUF if all coparceners are minors
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The Private Client team at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas shares their comments and opinions shared in an article in the  following Q&A which was published by the Mint Newspaper on 22nd July, 2020 and the online edition of the same can be found here.

My late husband had mutual fund investments under Hindu Undivided Family (HUF). I have a son and daughter, who are minors. While some mutual funds have agreed that I can be the karta and are willing to let me liquidate investments, but two are saying I can’t be a karta. Can you explain?

—Swati Kesarkar

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Continue Reading Wife can manage late husband’s HUF if all coparceners are minors

The Opportunity of a Lifetime for HNIs—Saving the Indian NGO Sector

This post is written by the authors in collaboration with our Guest Authors –  Ashish Karamchandani, Senior Advisor at FSG and Abhishek Khanna, Senior Consultant at FSG

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The year 2020 will be etched in our memories for a long time. COVID-19 has blindsided most of us. The non-discriminating virus has not spared any country, religion, or occupation, and has impacted the lives of every individual in the world.

Yet some have suffered more than others. In India, the impact has been greater on the marginalised groups in cities, such as the migrant workers and the low-income households. Nearly four crore individuals are reported to be without work or home, and their plight is unlikely to end any time soon. Although, the pandemic is status neutral, and can affect anybody belonging to any strata of the society, containment zones have shifted from the more affluent parts of cities to the slums and other congested areas.  A third group comprising the aging citizens in cities, bereft of any support system, also remain vulnerable.…
Continue Reading The Opportunity of a Lifetime for HNIs—Saving the Indian NGO Sector

‘In terrorem clause’ is used to reduce chances of challenge to a Will
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The Private Client team at Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas shares their comments and opinions shared in an article in the  following Q&A which was published by the Mint Newspaper on 7th July, 2020 and the online edition of the same can be found here.

I live in the US. I have made a Trust deed before a notary in Texas, with my children as beneficiaries. The deed has a foregoing clause, which says claims filed by my heirs challenging the conveyance of my assets to my children will result in the forfeiting of the rights of the claimants if they fail to prove that the conveyance transactions were effected on the legal grounds of fraud, coercion etc. Is the foregoing clause valid in India?

—KB

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Continue Reading ‘In terrorem clause’ is used to reduce chances of challenge to a Will

In India, the law and practice in relation to property and inheritance have traditionally been more patriarchal. Unfortunately, married daughters were quite often not regarded as the heir apparent to a family’s estate and business; and sons continue to be the ‘chosen ones’. Many business families remain reluctant to pass their business wealth and assets onto their married daughters due to the perceived risk that the property ends up being controlled by the in-laws of the daughters. This becomes even more pronounced for ‘promoter’ families with significant holdings in public listed companies. How can such Promoters pass on their business wealth to their daughters, and can they do so without losing control over the company?

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Continue Reading SEBI clarifies status of married daughters becoming promoters in listed companies