Father gave property to sons only by oral partition and later on a testamentary will not executed. That testamentary will is neither registered nor probated by my brothers. My brothers are very influential, and they have forcibly taken possession and ownerships over that land. We two sisters have been excluded from the property whereas we also have right in that property. It was my father's self-acquired property, and all the legal heirs have equal right and title in that property. There is no witness about the oral distribution of property to my three brothers. They are claiming that in 2008 my father orally divided the property and in 2019 he written a testamentary will. Two witnesses were signed that will. Since that will is forged and fabricated then my brothers never registered that will and also not take probate. We have filed a civil suit for partition of property according to Chirstian law.
Asked from: Maharashtra
The legal fiction of joint family property and joint possession of coparceners is not applicable under Christian law. Therefore, your father had the absolute right to divide the property in his lifetime. If he divided the property among his three sons, even if done orally, that partition is legally valid. You cannot later challenge that partition or division of property solely on the grounds that it was an oral division made by your father.
It is also important to note that your father made a written document in the form of a testamentary will. This document will be admissible as evidence to prove that an oral division was made by the owner, i.e., your father.
Although your father’s testamentary will was not registered, it can still be used as a piece of evidence to demonstrate the intentions or conduct of the deceased author. If, in that document, the author admitted to having divided the property among his sons and excluded his daughter, it shall serve as relevant documentary evidence to prove the division of property by the owner.
Since the property has already been divided by the owner, the court will not interfere. The property cannot be re-divided under the Partition Act. The validity of the will cannot be questioned in a civil suit merely because the document is unregistered. It is relevant as a piece of documentary evidence only, however, no rights have been transferred or affected by that document i.e. unregistered will. Your plea that father gave property to sons only by oral partition seems very weak.
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