A relinquishment deed is a legal document that surrenders ownership, title, and rights from one party to another. Relinquishment deeds are most commonly used to transfer ownership rights in a co-owned or co-inherited property. They are executed when one party decides to relinquish or give up their share of the property for a number of reasons. The article below outlines relinquishment deed meaning and its salient features.

Features of a Relinquishment Deed

Rights and Share Transfer: A relinquishment deed transfers shares, interests, rights, and tiles from one co-owner to the others. For eg: If the surviving parent of a family dies leaving the house to her son and daughter, the son can choose to relinquish his claim on the property to his sister for a certain consideration. Alternatively, he could choose to give up a specific portion or percentage of his share in the property.

Voluntary Transfer: To be considered legal, the surrender or relinquishment should be voluntary. Any coercion or force renders the deed void. Hence, in our example above, the brother should willingly give up his right to the property to his sister.

Joint or Co-ownership: Relinquishment deeds can only be executed to transfer rights or shares in co-owned or joint properties. Thus, in our example, the brother and sister, are joint inheritors of the property and hence can only surrender their claim to the property to each other.

Transfer of Liabilities: When a relinquishment deed is executed, the relinquished not only transfers his rights but also any responsibilities or liabilities attached to the property such as financial or legal obligations. This can include paying property taxes, mortgages, maintenance, etc.

Legality: A standard relinquishment deed format is executed on an Rs. 100 stamp paper and registered at the sub-registrar’s office in the presence of witnesses thus making it a legally binding document. A nominal stamp duty is paid to register the document.

Revocation or cancellation: Despite its legality, a relinquishment deed can be challenged if the relinquisher was forced or coerced into giving up his rights. The time limit to challenge a relinquishment deed is three years from the date of transfer. In such cases, all the parties to the deed should provide their consent to cancel the deed.

To conclude, a relinquishment deed is a legally binding document used to voluntarily transfer an individual’s share in a jointly owned or inherited property to another co-owner or co-inheritor. It is very different from a gift deed which is given to anyone and for no consideration at all.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a relinquishment deed needed for?

Answer: If you wish to give up your share or rights in a co-owned property or business you need to execute a relinquishment deed to do so legally.

2. Is a relinquishment deed the same as a release deed?

Answer: A release deed and relinquishment deed perform the same legal function of transferring rights from one co-owner to another.

Basics of Relinquishment Deeds

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