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Sunday 6 April 2014

TRANSFER OF PROPERTY BY A CO-OWNER



The term property in common parlance indicates the economic status of a person.Any property is held by an individual to draw out benefit from it. Transfers are made by owners themselves, ostensible owners and the co-owners and the co owners or we can say joint owners.When two or more persons enjoy common ownership of a property,for example say in coparcenaries the male members and now even daughters have a common and equal interest in the ancestral property,any co-owner can transfer his own share in the property to a stranger or another co-owner. And that transferee steps in the shoes of the co-owner (transferor) and gets clothed with all his assets and liabilities. We can say that the transferee becomes the co-owner.

Transfer by one Co-owner where one of two or more co-owners of immovable property legally competent in that behalf transfers his share of such property or any interest therein, the transferee acquires, as to such share or interest, so far as is necessary to give effect to the transfer, the transferor's right to joint possession or other common or part enjoyment of the property,and to enforce a partition of the same, but subject to the conditions and liabilities affecting, at the date of the transfer, the share of interest so transferred.

Where the transferee of a share of a dwelling house belonging to an undivided family is not a member of the family, nothing in this section shall be deemed to entitle him to joint possession or other common or part enjoyment of the house.

Who is a Co-owner?
Ownership consists of innumerable number of claims, liberties, powers with regard to the thing owned. Ownership is of different kinds. There are absolute and limited, sole ownership, co- ownership, vested ownership, contingent ownership and corporeal.When a person owns a property in one time it is called sole ownership, but if the property is owned by more than one person then it is called joint ownership. By means of partition one can have co-ownership changed into sole ownership.

The expression co-owner is wide enough to include all kinds of ownerships such as joint tenancy, Tenancy in common, Coparcenaries, membership of undivided Hindu family, Joint purchase of property etc. The very fact of the reference to the property that the parties have certain shares, indicates that they are co-owners.

In Indian Law, a co-owner is entitled to three essentials of ownership-
1.   Right to possession,
2.   Right to enjoy,
3.   Right to dispose

Therefore, if a co-owner is deprived of his property, he has a right to be put back in possession. Such a co-owner has an interest in every portion of the property and has a right irrespective of his quantity of share, to be in possession jointly with others. This is also called joint- ownership.

When the type of co-ownership is not specifically stated, by default a tenancy in common is likely to exist. Each tenant in common has a separate fractional interest in the entire property. Although each tenant in common has a separate interest in the property, each may possess and use the whole property. Tenants in common may hold unequal interest in the property, but the interests held by each tenant in common are a fractional interest in the entire property.

Joint Tenancy
The most attractive feature of joint tenancy is the right of survivorship. Upon the death of one joint tenant, his/her interest immediately passes to the surviving joint tenants and not to the decedent’s estate. Joint tenants hold a single unified interest in the entire property. Each joint tenant must have equal shares in the property. For e.g. Band A hold a 50% interest. Each joint tenant may occupy the entire property subject only to the rights of the other joint tenants.

Unlike tenants in common, joint tenancy has several requirements that must be met in order to be properly created. Massachusetts law requires that in order for a joint tenancy to be created specific language must be included in the conveyance or devise. Such language includes that the grantees take the land: "jointly", "as joint tenants", "in joint tenancy", "to them and the survivor of them", or using other language in the instrument that it was clearly intended to create an estate in joint tenancy. However, even if such language is contained in the conveying instrument, a joint tenancy may not exist.

Tenancy by the Entirety
This type of co-ownership is exclusively for husband and wife. Similar to joint tenancy, tenancy by the entirety provides the right of survivorship. To exist, tenancy by the entirety requires that the four unities of joint tenancy exist plus a fifth unity of marriage between the two co- owners. However, even if all five unities exist, the type of co- ownership may still be joint tenancy if the conveying instrument indicates such. Unlike joint tenancy, tenancy by the entirety does not allow one spouse to convey his interest to a third party. However, one spouse may convey his/her interest to the other spouse. A tenancy by the entirety may only be terminated by divorce, death, or mutual agreement by both spouses. A terminated tenancy by the entirety becomes a tenancy in common.

When is a co-owner legally competent to make a transfer?
Section 7 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 provides that every person competent to contract i.e. a major and of sound mind or is not disqualified by law for contracting. Therefore even the interest of a co-owner or co-sharer can be sold, mortgaged, leased to another co-sharer or to a stranger.The fact that the partition has not taken place by metes and bounds does not stand in the way of the interest of a co-owner.

According to the law prevailing in some areas, a coparcener of a Hindu Joint Family can alienate his share in the Joint Family Property for consideration. Such a coparcener is a legally competent person.But in some cases of Mitakshara coparcenaries, the consent of other coparceners is required before any such transfer.

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