3 Answers
Dear Client, your father has a legal right to seek partition of the jointly held house. On the question of court fees specifically, here is the most important news for you.
The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet announced in October of 2023 that as of September 2024, the upper limit for stamp fees and registration fees for partition deeds for Greater property will no longer be more than ₹5000/-. These lower fees will apply to the deed of partition for dividing family properties among family members, producing large savings because family members will be able to avoid paying stamp duty when the duty would otherwise be possibly up to seven times the total amount of stamps due; that is, if the family member who owns the family property would have been charged duty by taxing authorities based on value the property and then finally subdividing the property.
Also, regarding the court costs for your partition suit, the value of each partition suit filed in Uttar Pradesh will relate to the market value of the claimed portion from a family property or the claimed property. Additionally, your proportionate amount for your partition suit will be determined by the percentage of the total accessions to your partition from the claimed property, based upon the applicable Court Fees Act in Uttar Pradesh and its applicability to the plaintiff's claimed accessions.
Additionally, this house is an older house, has been under maintained, and therefore, there is an expectation, based upon these facts, that your estimated court cost is a correlatively smaller amount based upon relative valuation to the respective circle rates within your jurisdiction.
The practical steps to file the partition suit are as follows. Engage a local civil advocate in Mathura.
Your lawyer will prepare a complaint which will include a description of the property, a list of all of the owners of the property, as well as a description of the share that your dad will receive in the property. The complaint will also need to be accompanied with the required court fee stamp papers, certified copies of the owner documents, and a death certificate for your grandfather. You will need to submit the complaint to the Civil Senior Judge in the Mathura District. Your lawyer can reference your father's senior citizen status and therefore request that the case be expedited under the Senior Citizens Welfare Act. Subsequently, the court will send notices to all other family members, at which time the court will start the partition process. Even in the event that other family members object to the partitioning of the property, the court will nonetheless ultimately determine how much property belongs to each owner and if necessary either order the physical premises to be divided or that the property be sold and distributed amongst the owners.
I hope this helps, and if you have any further issues, do not hesitate to contact us.
Dear Sir,
You can file a partition suit before the District Court having jurisdiction over Mathura under the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. The suit will typically seek (i) declaration of your father’s share, (ii) partition by metes and bounds, and (iii) separate possession of his portion. Along with the plaint, you will need to provide details such as the family tree, description of the property, how it is currently being enjoyed, and the relief sought.
As regards court fees, this is governed by the Court Fees Act, 1870 as applicable in Uttar Pradesh. In partition suits, the court fee depends on whether your father is in joint possession of the property or not. If he is already in joint possession (which seems to be the case since all brothers are residing in the same house), then only a fixed and relatively nominal court fee is payable at the time of filing the suit. However, if a party is excluded from possession and seeks recovery of possession along with partition, then ad valorem court fee (based on the market value of his share) may be required, which is significantly higher. Therefore, your case being one of joint possession will likely involve a lower court fee.
Dear Client,
In a partition suit in Uttar Pradesh, court fees are calculated under the Court Fees Act, 1870 on the value of your claimed share in the property (generally one‑quarter of the value of your share in the suit property), not its full market price, and the exact amount depends on the current assessed value where your house is situated in Mathura. Typically, for modest value ancestral houses, the fee runs into a few thousand rupees in total, not lakhs, and the local court fee table or your advocate can compute it from the latest municipal or revenue valuation. Since your father is a senior citizen and funds are limited, you should first approach the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) / Lok Adalat in Mathura, which can often provide free or very low cost legal aid, including drafting the plaint, advising on court fee calculation, and helping you file the case in the civil court at the place where the property is located.
To file a partition suit, first get valuation of the house (from municipality/DDS) and original title deeds, then prepare a family tree or legal heir certificate showing your father’s share among 5 brothers. Finally draft a partition plaint stating that you want physical or money partition because the house is in poor condition and co‑owners refuse mutual division, and file it in the District Court or appropriate civil court in Mathura with your court‑fee‑stamp or challan.
I hope this helps and if you have any further issues do not hesitate to contact us.