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Draft to enact procedure
CIVIL.01 --- Improving resolition of inheritance related disputes

There are two drafts : the citizens need to pass the first draft in the Parliament and second draft in the Assembly.
By passing these drafts, the citizens can obtain laws/procedures by which they can reduce disputes related to inheritance and improve fairness/speed in resolving them in case they do occur.
For description of this procedure, Direct Vote, please click here.

DRAFT-1 (to be passed in the Parliament)

	Section 1 : Preamble
	The Act is to create laws/procedures, by which citizens can reduce disputes related to inheritance and improve fairness/speed in resolving them in case they do occur.
	Section 2 : Nominees in bank accounts
2.1	[Instruction to Bank Managers or Managers of Depository Companies] Any bank, registered with RBI, or any company licences to take current, savings or time deposits from public, or any company except properietorship which takes a deposit from a person, will take the names of nominees or if names of nominees are NOT provided then pay 5% of the interest due to the Central Govt or Rs 10/month, whichever is higher, need to pay ONLY remainder to the party. The statement provided to the party MUST show a deduction entry for the payment given to the State Govt. The 5% penalty will also apply if the tax-ID is deliberately NOT provided for any reason. Example and explanation: Say a bank offers savings account, and interest rate is 4%/year. Say a party opens an account, puts Rs 100,000 and does NOT appoint nominees. Then out of due interest of Rs 4000/yr, the bank will pay Rs 400 to the State Govt and only the rest Rs 3600 to the person.
2.2	Along with names, the person must also take tax-IDs, addresses and relation with the party. The company which is taking deposits MUST verify that names and tax-IDs match within 90 days. In case of mismatch, 10% of the interest due in the 90 days will be given to Central Govt and the company must obtain the correct names/tax-ID within next 90 days and re-verify. Example and explanation: Say a bank offers savings account, and interest rate is 4%/year. Say a party opens an account, puts Rs 100,000 and provided information of one or more nominee's name/tax-ID is incorrect. Then 90 days interest is Rs 1000/-. The bank shall pay 5% i.e. Rs 50 to the Central Govt, and pay ONLY Rs 950 to the party. This will continue till correct information is provided by the party.
2.3	In case names and tax-ID do not match, or tax-ID is not provided, then nomination will NOT be void. But the burden of proof of identity, based on other details, will be on the nominee, if and when question of inheritance arises.
2.4	A party may provide more than one nominee and the %-share of each nominee which must add up to 100%. In case, it does NOT add up to 100%, it will be uniformaly scaled down or scaled up as may be the case.
2.5	In the event of death, the bank will search for the nominees, and inform them as soon as possible. The bank will continue to pay the interest for 1 year, and after that, interest after 1 year will be deposited with the Central Govt.
2.6	Within 30 days after passing this laws, the banks and depository companies MUST inform all the account/deposit holders who are individuals, HUF or propertorships to provide nominees and/or tax-IDs if nominees or tax-IDs are missing. If the account holders do NOT do so within 90 days, the bank will deduct 10% oif the intrest due and pay the sum to the Central Govt as fine.
	Section 3 : Reducing multiple ownerships of bank accounts
3.1	The bank will give 5% less interest, and deposit the deducted interest with the Central Govt, if a deposit has more than 1 names with it.
3.2	If a deposit/account has more than 1 names, the nomination MUST be appoved by ALL the parties and will apply ONLY if ALL the parties expire.
	Section 4 : General guidelines about maintaining nominees' information.
4.1	Any company, which is holding assets of a person and is required to keep information of nominees, will keep names, address, relation and tax-ID of the nominee, if applicable. If the owner does NOT provide the names, the Central Govt will charge a penalty to the company which holds the assets, and that company may pass the burden plus service charge of upto 20% of the penlty to the person.
4.2	If the owner provides names, address, relation and but does NOT provide tax-ID for any reason, a lesser penalty will apply as stated, which Central Govt will collect from the asset holding company, and that company may pass the burden on the asset owner along with upto 20% service charge.
4.3	The depository company must verify that names and tax-IDs match, in case tax-IDs are provided, and if there is a mismatch, the Central Govt will collect a penalty which the depository may pass to the owner with upto 20% service charge.
4.4	The Central Govt shall release names and tax-IDs of persons who have expired. It will be responsibility of depository company to obtain that list and if any owner whose assets are with the company is in the list, it will re-verify the death, and contact the nominees if a nominee has expired, it would contact the owner if there is only one nominee and he has expired, the company will ask the owner to provide a name of another nominee within 90 days, and fines will apply after that period.
4.5	If a nominee is mentioned, but the tax-ID of a nominee is not provided, the depository company will transfer the property ONLY after a confirmation of indentity by an officer in-charge of verification as appointed by the Central Govt.
4.6	A person may specify more than one nominee, in which case he must provide a percentage share which must add up to 100%. If it does NOT add up to 100, it will scaled up or down as applicable. If the nominee expires, the remaining nominees will get the property, NOT the nominees of the nominee.
4.7	If the nominees are not mentioned or have expired, the property will be transfered ONLY after a Review by Jury, and the Jurors will deduct 10% of the assets' value for the Central Govt, and distribute the remaining equally amongst following relatives : spouse, children, parents and sibblings.
4.8	If an asset has more than one owner, Central Govt may collect an additional charge. The nominees must be approved by ALL owners, and will get property only when ALL owners expire. The owners will be free to change nominees any day. In case a property has two or more owners, and has nominees, and one owner expires, then other owners will be free to change the names any day.
4.9	If a person has any debt on him, with or without collateral, the transfer of assets will be frozen, till the debt is cleared. In such case, the District Judge will first auction the property to clear the debt and only then remaining property will transferred.
4.10	If there are more than 10 nominees, the Central Govt will collect half the penalty applicable in the cases where there are no nominees.
4.11	A will written by a person, and later verified by the District Judge and 12 Jurors, will overwrite the nomination, provided the will is newer than nomination, and nomination makes reference to the asset or has phrase like "all assets" or any phrase which covers the asset. The will be interpreted and excuted by a District Judge and 12 Jurors, as per the discretion of majority of the Jurors.
	Section 5 : Nominees of shares, bonds, debentures etc
5.1	In case of shares, if the shares are deematized, ONLY the deemat provider will keep the nominees information. The nominees information with company or its registrar will be void. In case shares etc are NOT deematized, the company will be required to keep information of the nominees.
5.2	The Central Govt will charge three times the transfer tax and 10% higher property tax on non-deematized shares.
5.3	If the nominees are not provided, and if the shares are deematized, and deemat account holder is an individual, the Central Govt will collect a penalty equal twice the transfer tax from the Deemat provider. In addition, the Deemat provider will pay 0.0001% of the shares closing daily market value, the amount will be payable every 3 months.
5.4	If the nominees are not provided, and if the shares are non-deematized, and owner i.e. buyer is an individual, the Central Govt will collect a penalty equal four times the transfer tax from the company or its registrar. In addition, the registrar will pay Rs 100/yr for every folder where nominees are NOT listed, and 0.001% of the shares closing daily market value, the amount will be payable every 3 months.
5.5	If a deemat account has multiple owners, the transfer tax will be twice the normal transfer tax, and deemat provider will pay a property tax of 0.0001% of the daily closing value calculated dialy payable quarterly.
5.6	In case of death of the account-owner, the deemat provider will try to contact the nominee. If there is only one nominee, the deemat provider will transfer the shares to his names after verification. If there are more than 1 nominees, the deemat provider will tranfer the shares propertional to his share in his account. If the number of shares are not divisible, the deemat provider will auction the smallest number of shares to make the diviision possible. The cash obtained from auction will divided amongst nominees in the propertoion to their share. Example : Say a person has 407 shares and has 4 nominees and their % share as 25%, 25%, 15% and 35%. Now 407 is NOT divisible in the ratio 25:25:15:35. Nor are number 406, 405, 404, 403, 402 and 401. But 400 is indeed divisible in that ratio. So the deemat provider will have to auction 7 shares, divide the remaining 400 in the said ratio. The cash obtained from auctioning 7 shares will also go in the same ratio.
5.7	If a nominee does not appear for 2 years, the deemat provider will auction the shares and will submit the amount to the Central Govt. The Central Govt deduct 10%, NOT pay any interest on the funds, and will give it to the nominee as and when he files a claim.
	Section 5 : Inheritance of gold, stones, jewellery etc
5.1	In the wealth tax return, a person may specify the nominees of his gold holdings, and the wealth tax on gold will be 10% higher if nominees are not specified. This return will be equivalent to will, unless there is a will made afterthe return.
5.2	If the person who has expired owned gold, stones, jewellery etc, and if the will is specified, then the District Judge and 12 Jurors will divide the gold, stones etc as agreed by majority of the Jurors. The Jurors may call appraisers for valuation.
5.3	If the will does not exist, and spouse, children, parents and sibblings (sibblings will come only if he physically/mentally handicapped) unaniously agree on the distribution, and pay 10% of the amount of the value as decided by the appraiser plus a minimum amount of Rs 5000, then District Judge and 12 Jurors will divide jewellery as nominees have agreed. But even if one of the nominee does NOT agree, the District Judge and 12 Jurors will auction the property, keep 10% of the proceeds and divide the rest equally amongst the relatives.
	Section 6 : Inheritance of other items
6.1	If a person has purchased any item above Rs 10000/-, including gold, stones and jewelleries, if a sales tax is applicable, the sales tax will be 10% higher if the person does not specify the name of nominee at the time of purchase.
6.2	For all the items that belongs to a person, whose nominee is not specified in the will or otherwise, the District Judge and 12 Jurors will hold the auction, pay 10% of the proceeds plus Rs 5000 to the Central Govt, and divide the remaining sum amongst the relatives.

-----------------(end of the draft-1) ----------------- DRAFT-2 (to be passed in the Assembly)

Section 1 : Preamble

The Act is to create laws/procedures, by which citizens can reduce disputes related to inheritance of land/building and improve fairness/speed in resolving them in case they do occur.

Section 2 : Nominees for land/building
2.1 At the time of purchase, if there is more than 1 buyer, the buyers MUST specify the % ownerships, which must add up to 100%. Or else the Land Record Officer will hold the transfer. Example:
2.2 if there are more than 5 buyers, the State Govt will charge additional 0.5% of value of the property as a transfer tax, and an additional property tax of 0.1%/year if a property is in more than 5 owners.
2.3 Each owner can specify upto 10 nominees for no extra tax. If there is more than 1 nominee, the owner must specify %-ownership which must add up to 100 and should be integral with his % share in property.

[Example : Say A, B and C buy a property with their shares as 20:30:50. Now A appoints two nominees X and Y in the ratio 35:65. This will invalid, as dividing 20% in the ratio 31:69 gives non integer values. But A may put share of nominees as 30:70, as 20 can be divided into 6 and 14 which are interegers and in the ration 30:70.]

In case a buyer does NOT specify a nominee, the additional transfer tax will be 0.5% of the propertional value held by that buyer, and there will additional property tax of 0.1%/year of the value held by the owner. If there are more than 10 nominees, the transfer tax will additional 0.5% of the value and there will annual property tax of 0.1% of the value.
2.4 In case a owner expires, his share on the land/building will NOT go the remaining owners, but will go to the nominees listed by the owner. If a nominee wants cash for his share on the property, he must inform District Land Record Officer, who will inform all the other owners, and call their meeting after 1 year. Each of existing owner may submit a bid, which must be higher than value given by the appraiser approved by the State Govt. The nominee MUST sell his share to any of the bidders, but transfer tax will as per the highest bid. If none of the existing owners place a bid higher than valuation, the Land Record Officer will auction the property and divide the cash amongst holders as per their share.

Example : Say 3 persons A, B and C own a property in ratio 20:30:50. Say A expires, and he had kept three nominees, X, Y and Z in ratio 20:40:40. Then new owners will be X, Y, Z, B and C in the ratio 4:8:8:30:50. Now if X wants cash for his property, and the appraiser values it at Rs 1crore, each of the owner, Y, Z, B and C can place a bid which must be higher than Rs 400,000, If they do not, the Land Record Officer will auction the property and divide the proceeds amongst owners in the proportion they own.
2.5 The nominees must apply for transfer within 12 months after death, or there will be additional penalty of 1%/year of the value of property. The Land Record Officer will ensure that the owner is alive every 5 years, and in one-more owners have expired, he will contact the nominees.

-----------------(end of the draft-2) -----------------

	Section 1 : Preamble
	The Act is to create laws/procedures, by which citizens can reduce disputes related to inheritance of land/building and improve fairness/speed in resolving them in case they do occur.
	Section 2 : Nominees for land/building
2.1	At the time of purchase, if there is more than 1 buyer, the buyers MUST specify the % ownerships, which must add up to 100%. Or else the Land Record Officer will hold the transfer. Example:
2.2	if there are more than 5 buyers, the State Govt will charge additional 0.5% of value of the property as a transfer tax, and an additional property tax of 0.1%/year if a property is in more than 5 owners.
2.3	Each owner can specify upto 10 nominees for no extra tax. If there is more than 1 nominee, the owner must specify %-ownership which must add up to 100 and should be integral with his % share in property. [Example : Say A, B and C buy a property with their shares as 20:30:50. Now A appoints two nominees X and Y in the ratio 35:65. This will invalid, as dividing 20% in the ratio 31:69 gives non integer values. But A may put share of nominees as 30:70, as 20 can be divided into 6 and 14 which are interegers and in the ration 30:70.] In case a buyer does NOT specify a nominee, the additional transfer tax will be 0.5% of the propertional value held by that buyer, and there will additional property tax of 0.1%/year of the value held by the owner. If there are more than 10 nominees, the transfer tax will additional 0.5% of the value and there will annual property tax of 0.1% of the value.
2.4	In case a owner expires, his share on the land/building will NOT go the remaining owners, but will go to the nominees listed by the owner. If a nominee wants cash for his share on the property, he must inform District Land Record Officer, who will inform all the other owners, and call their meeting after 1 year. Each of existing owner may submit a bid, which must be higher than value given by the appraiser approved by the State Govt. The nominee MUST sell his share to any of the bidders, but transfer tax will as per the highest bid. If none of the existing owners place a bid higher than valuation, the Land Record Officer will auction the property and divide the cash amongst holders as per their share. Example : Say 3 persons A, B and C own a property in ratio 20:30:50. Say A expires, and he had kept three nominees, X, Y and Z in ratio 20:40:40. Then new owners will be X, Y, Z, B and C in the ratio 4:8:8:30:50. Now if X wants cash for his property, and the appraiser values it at Rs 1crore, each of the owner, Y, Z, B and C can place a bid which must be higher than Rs 400,000, If they do not, the Land Record Officer will auction the property and divide the proceeds amongst owners in the proportion they own.
2.5	The nominees must apply for transfer within 12 months after death, or there will be additional penalty of 1%/year of the value of property. The Land Record Officer will ensure that the owner is alive every 5 years, and in one-more owners have expired, he will contact the nominees.