Inherited Flat Sold by a Nominee? What a Bangalore Buyer Must Verify

A flat that once belonged to a person who has died is sometimes sold by a relative holding an association letter that names them as nominee. A buyer may assume the relative can sell. The truth is more complicated, and this guide explains the nominee's real position, the way inheritance works with and without a will and the steps that make a purchase in Bangalore safe.

A trustee, not a new owner

Institutions use a nomination to know whom to deal with once an account-holder or member dies. The nominee can take the asset or have the register updated, and the institution receives a valid discharge. Plenty of apartment associations accept it too, as do insurers, banks, provident funds and co-operative housing societies.

The role ends there. The Supreme Court has said across assets for four decades that the nominee holds the asset for the persons entitled by succession law.

Three decisions are cited most. In Sarbati Devi (1983), on a life insurance policy, the nominee was paid but the heirs kept their claim. In Indrani Wahi (2016), the society had to record the nominee as member of a flat in a co-operative society, while the family kept its right to pursue its claim. In Shakti Yezdani (2023), on company shares, the Court held that nomination does not override succession.

A flat buyer should remember the 2016 decision. A society entry made for the nominee is proper, yet it leaves the question of ownership open.

The inheritance rules

A valid will sends the flat to the person it names. Where there is none, the legal heirs inherit it under the law applicable to the owner.

When a Hindu man dies intestate, his estate is divided equally among Class I heirs under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. This class includes his mother, widow, sons and daughters, and the children of a child who died before him. For a Hindu woman, her husband and children are first in line. The Indian Succession Act, 1925 applies to Christians and Parsis, and personal law governs Muslims.

If the nominee is a spouse or child, the nominee is probably an heir too. The share then comes from heirship, and the others hold theirs alongside.

What the record in one name does not prove

After a death, records often show one name. Each is useful for its own purpose, and none proves title.

• The society or association register names the member the body accepts, while other heirs' shares are not addressed
• Tax receipts and the e-khata name the person assessed, but title depends on deeds and succession
• Power and water bills show the payer of the connection, which settles nothing about ownership
• Possession shows the occupant, though heirs elsewhere keep their rights

The sale deed on record is still in the name of the deceased. Sellers must tie it to themselves by a will or by proof of heirship, and a khata moved into one heir's name after a family tree was filed does not cancel what the others own.

Where a will exists

A will overrides a nomination. The buyer should obtain the original, the death certificate and evidence that no later will was made. A registered will inspires more trust, but an unregistered will is valid in law.

Most wills in Karnataka need no court certificate. Probate, a certification of a will's genuineness, was never required for property here. In 2025 the Repealing and Amending Act, assented to on 20 December, dropped section 213 from the Indian Succession Act, a clause that had made probate mandatory in some cities.

Asking for probate is still reasonable if the will is not registered, excludes a near relative or is disputed. The usual alternative is for the remaining natural heirs to appear in the deed as parties confirming it, accepting the will and disclaiming any claim.

Where no will exists

Each legal heir becomes a co-owner on the day of death, and the buyer has to prove who all the heirs are. In Karnataka the evidence is usually a bundle of four papers:

• Death certificates for the owner and for any heir who has died since then
• A vamshavruksha (family-tree certificate), obtained from the revenue department through Nadakacheri
• Identity and address proof for each heir, checked against the tree
• A notarised affidavit by the heirs, stating the list is complete

Succession certificates are made for financial assets, deposits and shares among them, so they do not suit a flat. When that is all a seller can show, request the family tree along with each heir's signature. For immovable property, the court document families seek is letters of administration.

Structure and payment

The heirs may sign as sellers on a single sale deed. Or all heirs but one may release their shares by registered release deed, so that the remaining heir can sell alone. A nominee can sell without anyone else only when that person is the only heir, or the only beneficiary under a valid will.

Pay according to ownership. If the whole price goes to the nominee, an heir who says nothing arrived could challenge the buyer later. Each heir should get a cheque or transfer according to each share, and the deed should record the amounts.

Four situations need further steps. First, a minor heir needs the guardian to obtain leave from the court to sell the minor's share. Second, an heir living abroad must sign a power of attorney at the Indian consulate, adjudicated in Karnataka.

Third, a running home loan means the lender's closure letter, with the original deeds handed back before registration. Fourth, a second marriage or earlier family means heirs from both sides on the list.

Checks in the right order

Take these steps one after another, finishing each before the next:

1. Check the registered sale deed for the name it carries.
2. Obtain the death certificate and find out if a will exists.
3. Get the family tree certificate and confirm every listed heir, in person or by documents.
4. Ask an advocate to confirm each share under the law that applies.
5. Provide in the agreement that the balance is paid only after all heirs sign or release.
6. Scan the encumbrance certificate for an earlier deed signed by any heir.
7. Make payment to every heir directly, registering only when all signatures are present.

A title like this will also pass a bank's legal review, a help for the buyer's own loan and for resale. The contact page is the place to ask our team to verify the title of an inherited flat ahead of any advance.