52% of families receiving the assets of family members transferred bribes

Several legal formalities need to be completed before the assets can be transferred to the heirs. In general, if the deceased left a Will or voluntarily transferred, this process requires the submission of a death certificate, a copy of the Will, and property documents in order to transfer ownership. For an estate where the owner expires without a Will, the inheritance proceedings will include a written settlement reached by all legal heirs. That said, transferring a property is not an easy process in India.

The survey received more than 26,000 responses from citizens residing in 303 districts of India. 67% of respondents are men while 33% of respondents are women. 48% of respondents are from primary school, 27% from secondary school and 25% of respondents are from 3rd, 4th and rural districts. The survey is conducted through the LocalCircles platform and all participants are authenticated citizens and must be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.

Citizens on the LocalCircles platform over the past 3 years shared that many of them had to bribe the relevant authorities because they were advised that it would make the registration process easier, faster and no query needed. This includes situations where revenue records are not tallied, queries for proof of ancestry, latest Government regulations or amendments, data sharing with citizenship authorities, reduction of tax stamped for ignorant reasons etc. To determine the extent of the problem, LocalCircles conducted a national survey that received over 26,000 responses from citizens residing in 303 districts of India . Of the total respondents, 67% are male and 33% are female; 48% of respondents are from primary school, 27% from secondary school and 25% of respondents are from 3rd, 4th and rural districts.

Only 23% of families manage to easily transfer the assets of a deceased family member while the majority struggle

The first question in the survey asks people about their experiences in relation to asset transfers – property, mutual funds/stocks, brokerage accounts, bank accounts, jewelry, etc. – after the death of a family member in the past 10 years. In response, 13% said they had a process “as simple as having a will registered”, and 19% shared that “had a will registered but it was very difficult”. “. Also, 10% of citizens said that they “didn’t have a will registered and it was very difficult”, 27% also “did not have a will registered and could not carry out the procedures”. However, 10% of citizens said “we did not have a registered will but were able to complete the process”; 8% said they “have not started the transfer process and need to do so” while 13% of citizens said no. clear signs. On an aggregated basis, only 23% of families can easily transfer the assets of a deceased family member while the majority struggle. This question in the survey received 8,907 responses.

52% of families receiving the property of a missing family member pay bribes, some in multiple places.

The next question in the survey asked people whether they had to bribe, directly or indirectly, to get their assets transferred — property, mutual funds/stocks, brokerages, accounts, bank accounts goods, jewelry, etc. — after the death of a family member in the past 10 years. In response, 25% of citizens said “Yes, in a lot of places” they paid a bribe, and another 27% also said “Yes, in 1-2 places”. Of the 8,983 people who answered this question, 24% of citizens said “No” they did not have to bribe; 16% said they “haven’t started the handover process” and 8% did not give a clear answer. On an aggregated basis, 52% of the families receiving the property of a missing family member paid a bribe, some in several places.

86% of families who had to pay bribes to transfer the property of a missing family member paid bribes at property registries/land transfer offices

The following question in the survey seeks people’s reactions to offices/departments where they have to pay bribes to get property transferred after the death of a family member in the past 10 years. In response, 26% of citizens said they had bribed “(1) local property/land registries”, “(2) magistrate/court offices” and “(3) law enforcement agencies”. other state and local government agencies”. The data survey showed that 21% paid bribes to “local property/land registry officials” and 39% paid to “1 & 3” category offices; 14% of citizens could not speak. On an aggregated basis, 86% of families who had to pay a bribe to transfer the property of a deceased family member did so at property registries/land transfer offices. This question in the survey received 8,707 responses.

Property Registry / Land Transfer & Other State / Local Government Offices are places where most families struggle to transfer property after a family member dies

If the types of offices for which most families paid bribes to get their assets transferred after the collapse were ranked in order of preference, the survey results showed that 86% paid “officers to register”. sign local property/land”, 65% pay “other state and local government offices”, and 26% pay salaries to officials in “magistrate/court offices”.

To sum up, the survey’s findings indicate that transferring assets to legal heirs is indeed an extremely serious task in India. As indicated by the survey, only 23% of families can easily transfer a deceased member’s assets to legal heirs while the majority face difficulties. This struggle has resulted in 52% of respondents/their families paying bribes in some place. Among the departments, 86% of families said property registration/land transfer offices are considered the most guilty of doing this.

The need now is for the government to consider the difficult problem people face in dealing with inheritance as an area of ​​reform. Through the public complaints department or any other department/department, policies must be established and then rolled out to the state governments to enable a one-stop system in all counties. main to handle inheritance or inheritance issues.