Hi,
My father expired recently without leaving any will. My mother, my married brother and myself (married daughter) are his only legal heirs. We want to do an Oral family settlement (recorded through memorandum) in order to resolve conflict between us.
The conflicts are as following:-
1. My mother started borrowing money for her sole proprietorship business from me about 6 years back through several online banking transactions. Every year she also keeps returning some principal amount back and pays annual interest on outstanding principal amount too. Now since there is no written agreement there is a dispute on the total outstanding amount that she needs to pay me in order to settle the loan. As per her Rs. 23.5 lacs are remaining and as per my understanding this is less amount - about 5 to 6 lacs short (outstanding amount should be about Rs 29 lacs).
2. I gave Rs. 6.5 Lacs (single online transaction) to my late father as loan. No interest has been paid on this loan so far. Now to repay this loan there is a disagreement as to how much interest needs to be paid to me for this loan by my mother and brother.
Also, there is a PPF account of my late father from which my mother as a nominee received a sum Rs. 30 Lacs (approx.)
We, the 3 legal heirs would like to settle the dispute through Oral family settlement (recorded through memorandum) as following :-
I would receive Rs 23.5 Lacs as repayment towards outstanding loan from my mother. Also I am willing to let go my interest on Rs. 6.5 Lacs loan given to my father and will just receive 6.5 Lacs from my mother. In return my mother and brother would give me Rs 15 Lacs (Rs 11 lacs is my inherited share and Rs 4 lacs is settlement amount) out of the total PPF amount received. So the total payout of Rs 45 Lacs would be given to me from my mother's account to settle all disputes.
My queries:
1. As per my understanding there is no need to register an Oral Family Settlement that has been recorded through memorandum - is this correct?
2. Does above contribute to a valid family settlement? Do all 3 of us need to sign it or just my mother and myself?
3. Would there be any capital gain tax applicable on transfer of Rs 45 Lacs from my mother's account to mine?
4. Is there any mandatory requirement for witnesses to sign this agreement?
5. There is one immovable property (plot of land) which is going to be divided between the 3 legal heirs equally. Would this settlement affect this property, as we haven't included it in the family settlement as there is no dispute on this?
6. For both 23.5 Lacs and 6.5 Lacs loans there are no written loan agreements. Is there a need for loan agreements for income tax purpose or would this memorandum of settlement suffice?
CAclubindia
