52% of families that received the property of a deceased family member paid a bribe

Several legal formalities need to be completed before the property can be transferred to the heirs. Generally, if the deceased person leaves a will or makes a voluntary transfer, the process requires the submission of a death certificate, copy of the will and property papers to obtain the transfer of ownership. For a property where the owner ceases to be without a will, the succession formalities will include a settlement document received by all the legal heirs. That said, transferring a property in India is not an easy process.

The survey received over 26,000 responses from citizens living in 303 districts of India. 67% of the respondents were male while 33% of the respondents were female. 48% respondents were from Tier 1, 27% from Tier 2 and 25% respondents were from Tier 3, 4 and rural districts. The survey was conducted through the LocalCircles platform and all the participants are valid citizens who had to be registered with the LocalCircles to participate in this survey.

Citizens have shared over the last 3 years on the LocalCircle platform that many of them have had to bribe the concerned authorities as they were advised that it would make the registration process easier, faster and without any questions. This includes situations where revenue records are not matching, questions to prove antecedents, latest government rules or amendments, sharing of data with civic authorities, reducing stamp duty under ignorant reasons, etc. To gauge the magnitude of the issues, LocalCircles conducted a national survey. Which received more than 26,000 responses from citizens living in 303 districts of India. Of the total respondents, 67% were male and 33% were female; 48% respondents were from Tier 1, 27% from Tier 2 and 25% respondents were from Tier 3, 4 and rural districts.

Only 23% of the families who tried were able to easily transfer the property of the deceased family member, while most struggled

The first question in the survey asked citizens about their experience with respect to transfer of assets – property, mutual funds/shares, brokerage accounts, bank accounts, jewellery, etc – after the death of a family member in the last 10 years. In response, 13% said they had “a straightforward process in the form of a registered will”, and 19% shared that “there was a registered will but despite that it was very difficult”. There were also 10% of citizens who said they “didn’t have a registered will and it was too difficult”, 27% also “didn’t have a registered will and have yet to complete the process”. However, 10% of citizens said that “we do not have a registered will, but are able to complete the process”; 8% said they had “not yet started the transfer process and needed to do so” while 13% of citizens did not. clear signal. Overall, only 23% of families were able to easily transfer the assets of the deceased family member, while most struggled. This question got 8,907 responses in the survey.

52% of families who transferred property of a deceased family member had to pay bribes, some were paid at multiple locations

The next question in the survey asked citizens whether they had to pay bribe directly or indirectly for transfer of property, mutual funds/shares, brokerage accounts, bank accounts, jewellery, others, etc. of any family member in the last 10 years. In response, 25% of citizens said “yes, in many places” they paid a bribe, and another 27% also said “yes, in 1-2 places”. Of the 8,983 respondents to this question, 24% of citizens said “no.” They didn’t have to pay a bribe; 16% said they had “not yet started the transfer process”, and 8% did not give a clear response. Overall, 52% of the families whose property of a deceased family member was transferred had to pay bribes at several places.

86 per cent of the families who had to pay bribe to transfer the property of a deceased family member had to pay bribe at property registration/land transfer offices.

The following questions in the survey sought citizens’ feedback about the offices/departments where they had to pay bribe for transfer of property after the death of a family member in the last 10 years. In response, 26% of citizens said they bribed “(1) property registration/local land officials”, “(2) magistrate’s offices/courts”, and “(3) other local and state government officials”. Survey data shows that 21% paid a bribe to “property registration/local land authorities”, and 39% paid it to “1 and 3” category offices; 14% of citizens could not say this. Overall, 86% of households who had to pay a bribe to transfer the property of a deceased family member did so at property registration/land transfer offices. This question received 8,707 responses in the survey.

Property registration / land transfer offices and other local / state government offices are places where most families struggle to transfer property after the death of a family member.

If the categories of offices to which most families have paid bribes to transfer property after death are evaluated in order of priority, the survey findings indicate that 86% have considered it “property registration/local land officers”, 65% paid it to “other local and state government offices”, and 26% salaried officers in “magistrate’s offices/courts”.

In summary, the survey findings indicate that property transfer to legal heirs is indeed a difficult task in India. As the survey indicated, only 23% of families were able to transfer the assets of the deceased family member to legal heirs, while the majority were struggling. This conflict has prompted 52% of the respondents/their families to pay bribes at multiple places. Among departments, 86 per cent of households indicated that property registration/land transfer offices were found to be most at fault for this practice.

It is the need of the hour for the Government to take up the issue of difficulties faced by citizens in heritage processing as an area of ​​improvement. Policies should be instituted through the Department of Public Grievances or any other Ministry/Department, which should then be implemented by the State Governments to enable a single window system for processing of inheritance or succession issues in all major districts .