Can a co-owner sell your joint property without your consent? What the law says
(File photo) What the law permits Supreme Court's 2024 ruling What is an undivided share? When a sale is done fraudulently How to stop an
(File photo) What the law permits Supreme Court's 2024 ruling What is an undivided share? When a sale is done fraudulently How to stop an unlawful sale Buyers must exercise caution Property disputes between family members, spouses, siblings or business partners are among the most common legal conflicts in the country. A question that frequently arises in such disputes is whether one co-owner can sell jointly held property without informing or obtaining consent from the others. Many people assume that their name on the property documents is sufficient protection. The legal position, however, is more layered.Under Section 44 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, a co-owner may transfer only their own undivided share in a property and not the shares belonging to other co-owners. This means that if two or more people jointly own a house, flat or plot of land, one co-owner cannot sell the entire property without the consent of the others. They may, however, sell their individual share.To illustrate: if three siblings jointly inherit a house and each holds a one-third share, one sibling can legally sell their one-third interest to a third party.
They cannot, however, sell the house in its entirety without the approval of the remaining owners.Section 44 also places an additional restriction on dwelling houses. Where the property serves as a family residence and the other co-owners are family members, the sale of an undivided share to an outsider may be legally challenged.The Supreme Court reaffirmed this position in SK Golam Lalchand vs Nandu Lal Shaw (Civil Appeal No. 4177 of 2024, decided on September 10, 2024). A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Pankaj Mithal held that a co-owner of an undivided property cannot transfer the entire property without first getting their share formally determined through partition. In the case, one legal heir of a jointly owned property in Howrah had sold the entire property to a third party without partition and without the consent of other heirs. The court ruled the transaction exceeded his legal authority.In many family properties, physical division of ownership has not taken place. This is referred to as an undivided share, every co-owner holds a legal interest in the whole property but no specific floor, room or portion exclusively belongs to any one person unless a formal partition has been carried out.A buyer purchasing an undivided share therefore does not automatically gain physical possession of any particular part of the property, making such transactions legally complex and financially risky.If a co-owner fraudulently sells the entire property by concealing the existence of other owners, the affected parties have legal recourse.
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