An Australia-based co-owner can seek partition of ancestral or jointly owned property in India by a registered family settlement or by a partition suit. You participate through a power of attorney signed before an Australian notary and apostilled by DFAT. If the family cannot agree, the court declares each share and divides the property or orders its sale.
- Document route
- Australian notary public, then apostille from DFAT
- Time difference
- Australia is 2h30 (Perth) to 5h30 (Sydney and Melbourne in summer) ahead of IST
- Main law
- Hindu Succession Act 1956, section 6
- Daughters
- Coparceners by birth (2005 amendment)
Partition of Family Property from Australia: how it works
We start by working out each person's share under the Hindu Succession Act or the applicable law. Daughters are coparceners with equal rights in ancestral property after the 2005 amendment, as the Supreme Court confirmed in Vineeta Sharma (2020), which often changes families' assumptions. We then explore a family settlement, bringing relatives across time zones together on video calls and circulating drafts by email.
If talks fail, we file a partition suit in the court where the property lies, with an injunction preventing any co-owner from selling or building in the meantime. The court passes a preliminary decree declaring shares, may appoint a local commissioner to propose a division, and then passes a final decree. Where the property cannot be divided fairly, the court can order a sale and distribute the proceeds.
What clients in Australia should know
- Living in Australia for many years does not reduce your share; a co-owner's possession is treated as possession on behalf of all, unless ouster is proved.
- Money received from a partition sale is a capital gain in India and may be assessable in Australia, with a foreign income tax offset.
- Agricultural land inherited by an Australian citizen holding an OCI card can be retained but sold only to an Indian citizen resident in India.
Step by step from Australia
Video consultation
A call at a time that suits Australia, after we have read your documents.
Documents signed in Australia
Australian notary public, then apostille from DFAT
Work in India
Our team files, appears and follows up in India, and shares scans of everything filed.
Result and handover
Certified copies and originals are couriered to you in Australia where needed.
The full guide
This page covers what changes when you are in Australia. For the law, the documents and the step-by-step procedure, read our main page on Partition of Family Property, or see all services for clients in Australia and the NRI Property Law practice area.
Questions from clients in Australia
Does every co-owner have to sign a family settlement?
Yes. If one refuses, the others can file a partition suit.
Can I take my share in money?
Yes, by agreement or through a court-ordered sale.
How long does a partition suit take?
Contested suits often take several years, though many settle after the preliminary decree.