Inherited property is the largest category of stalled sale we handle, and it is rarely a dispute. It is usually paperwork that was never finished because there was no reason to finish it until somebody wanted to sell.
What a buyer's advocate will ask
Who owns it, in what shares, according to the record? Not according to the family. If the revenue record still reads a grandparent's name, the sellers standing in front of the buyer are not, on paper, the owners.
The three things that must be true
- The death is recorded and the succession established, by whichever route applies to the family and the property.
- The mutation is completed in favour of the heirs. Where two generations have passed without it, each link is established in order — that is the slow case.
- Every co-owner signs, or has authorised somebody to sign. A share cannot be sold by the co-owner who happens to be available.
The absent co-owner
There is nearly always one, and they are often abroad. The solution is a specific power of attorney, executed and attested where they live, adjudicated here. Start it early — the chain takes weeks and it cannot be compressed at the end.
Where a family genuinely disagrees
Some sales should not be attempted until the shares are settled. A partition — by agreement where possible — produces defined shares that can then be sold independently. It is slower and it is cheaper than a sale that collapses after a token has been taken.
Where a valuation is needed for a settlement, it must be defensible to people who disagree with each other. We write those reports knowing they will be read that way.
Tax, briefly
The holding period of the person you inherited from generally counts, which usually helps. The cost of acquisition is theirs, not the value on the date of death. This is where a competent accountant earns their fee, and it is worth involving one before the sale rather than at filing.
What we do
We establish the position on paper first and price second. A seller who learns at the buyer's advocate stage that the record does not support the sale has already lost the buyer and usually a season.
Related notes
16 October 2026 · 6 min read
Buying a prelaunch flat in Punjab: the RERA checks to make before you pay a token
Prelaunch is where the best unit choice is — and where the paperwork is thinnest. Four checks that take an afternoon, using Elegancia on NH-05 as a live example of a project still at that stage.
16 October 2026 · 5 min read
Super area or carpet area? Reading an Elegancia floor plan
The Tower I plan at Elegancia states a super area of 701.56 sq ft. The rooms drawn on it add up to about 364 sq ft. Here is where the rest goes, and the one question to ask before comparing prices.
28 July 2026 · 6 min read
Stamp duty and registration: what you actually pay in Punjab and Himachal
Two states, two rate cards, and a difference large enough to change which side of the border a buyer looks at. What the sub-registrar collects on the day, who gets a concession, and why the number is not calculated on the price you negotiated.