Parents, while transferring your wealth in the name of children, read this Supreme Court decision once

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has made an important observation. The Supreme Court has observed that the condition that the children should be cared for in their old age should be written in writing while bequeathing property in the name of children. Otherwise the gift deed made by the parents cannot be canceled if the children neglect their aged parents.

A bench of Justices Sanjay K Kaul and A S Oka gave this advice to senior citizens on Tuesday. Often, senior citizens hope that their children will take care of them during sickness and old age. They expect a lot from their children, so out of love for them, they invest their self-earned assets in their name.

Children neglect their parents in old age. In such cases the right to approach a dedicated tribunal implementing the Maintenance and Welfare of Senior Citizens Act, 2007 is available. However, the judgment was still on annulment of the property given to the children by way of gift deed. A hearing was held in the Supreme Court against that background.

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Justice Sanjay Oka has made an important observation while studying Section 23 of the 2007 Act during the hearing. At this time, he said that two conditions should be fulfilled under this law. One of them is that the property should be transferred subject to the condition provided in favor of the children. Also, the transferee should get basic amenities and basic needs. So, the second condition is that the person in whose name the property is transferred refuses and fails to provide such facilities and material needs to the transferors.

If both the above conditions are not fulfilled, the transfer will be deemed to have been made by fraud or coercion or undue influence under law. Such a transfer then becomes voidable at the request of the transferor and the maintenance tribunal gets the power to declare the transfer void (if the children do not take care of the parents who gifted them the property), the court noted.

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A mother in Gurugram had gifted some property to her children. She then approached the Maintenance Tribunal for annulment of the gift deed, alleging that the children were not taking care of her. The Tribunal found the allegations true and canceled the gift deed in May 2018. The Punjab and Haryana High Court agreed with the tribunal’s decision.

However, Justices Kaul and Oka stayed the decision. The gift deed does not contain an express clause for maintenance by an elderly woman as a gift of property to her three children, two daughters and one son. Therefore, the bench has clarified that the gift deed cannot be cancelled.

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When senior citizens give their property in the name of their close relatives or children, there is no condition attached to take care of the senior citizens in return. Often such decisions are made out of love and affection. No expectation is placed in return. Therefore, when it is alleged that the conditions mentioned in sub-section (1) of Section 23 attach to the transfer, the existence of such conditions has to be established before the Tribunal, observed the Court.