Before you buy
The due diligence that determines whether a purchase is safe, and what it should cost.
Legal opinion on property. A thirty-year chain of title, approvals, dues and litigation, in a written opinion.Document verification. Confirming the papers you were given match the registered record.Encumbrance certificate. The cheapest first check, and how to read it properly.Registration and transfer. Stamp duty, guideline value, and getting the deed right before the appointment.Patta transfer. The step most buyers forget, and the one the next buyer will check.
Inheritance and family property
Property that came through a family rather than a purchase, with its own set of documents and disputes.
Partition and succession. Establishing shares, family arrangements, and partition suits where agreement fails.Legal heir certificate. The first document a family needs after a death.Succession certificate. For bank deposits, shares and debts where there is no nomination.Wills and probate. Including the Madras High Court probate requirement that catches Chennai families out.
When something has gone wrong
Disputes, fraud and encroachment: where speed matters more than anything else.
Property fraud. Double sales, forged deeds and fake powers of attorney.Land grabbing. The criminal complaint and the civil injunction, filed together.Illegal possession and construction. Encroachment, deviation and boundary disputes.Forgery. Where the document itself is the problem.
NRI owners: check annually. A fresh encumbrance certificate once a year is the cheapest protection there is against an unauthorised registration on your land.