Civil, family & property law guides (India)

This hub collects every civil, family and property guide on RTI Wiki in one shelf. Each guide below answers one narrow, practical question — a deposit not returned, a legal heir certificate rejected, a case status that looks wrong — with the exact steps, forms and escalation ladder that fit that situation.

Start from the section that matches your problem today. Every section opens with a plain sentence about when that set of guides matters, so you can tell at a glance whether you are in the right aisle. Come back when the next problem arrives, because these problems travel in packs: a death in the family soon brings a certificate, a bank claim and maybe a court filing; a boundary fight often pulls in a mutation record and a survey map. Nothing here needs a lawyer to start — the first useful step in almost every guide is a letter you can write yourself this week.

Land problems usually arrive as a fence, a missing path, or a neighbour occupying what you thought was yours. The law gives each situation its own remedy, and using the wrong one costs years.

• Adverse possession: claim land or defend yours — when long occupation itself creates a right.
• Easement and right of way: claiming legal access — for land you cannot reach without crossing another plot.
• Challenging low land acquisition compensation — when the government takes land and the price feels wrong.
• Ancestral property partition suit — splitting joint family property through court.
• Daughters' share in ancestral property — equal coparcenary rights explained.
• Self-acquired vs ancestral property — the difference decides who inherits what.
• Recovering possession after illegal dispossession — thrown out without a court order.

Renting goes wrong in two directions: a landlord holding a deposit hostage, or a tenant refusing to leave. Both sides have a legal route, and paperwork decides most of it.

• Rent agreement registration and the 11-month practice — why agreements are kept short, and what that costs you.
• Security deposit not returned: recovery steps — the notice-and-escalation ladder for tenants.
• Deposit not returned after checkout — the practical route.
• Tenant will not vacate after lease expiry — landlord's legal route.
• Illegal rent increase or lock-in dispute.
• Rent control eviction petition for landlords.
• Leave and licence agreements and eviction rights.

Family court matters move slowly, but most delays come from missing documents and skipped steps rather than the law itself.

• Divorce decree certified copy delayed by the family court — what to do when the paper never arrives.
• Filing a mutual consent divorce — the fastest lawful exit when both sides agree.
• Divorce on cruelty or desertion — contested grounds under the Hindu Marriage Act.
• Maintenance under Section 144 BNSS — support for wives, children and parents.
• Child custody petition in family court.
• Muslim divorce, maintenance and mehr rights.
• Maintenance ordered but not paid — execution guide.

After a death, three documents control everything: the legal heir certificate, the succession certificate and the will. Banks and registries each want a different one.

• How to apply for a legal heir certificate — where to apply and what to attach.
• Legal heir certificate rejected — married daughter, NRI or missing heir.
• Unregistered will found after death — bank and property action plan.
• Applying for a succession certificate — the court order that moves debts and securities.
• Challenging a will in court — grounds, evidence and timing.
• Hindu intestate succession and Class I heirs — who inherits when there is no will.
• Probate and letters of administration.
• Conversion and Scheduled Caste status — when a certificate question turns into a property question.

A nominee is often just a caretaker of the money, not its final owner. These guides separate the two roles before the bank does.

• UDGAM portal: search unclaimed deposits — find money sleeping in old accounts.
• Nominee claim on a deceased account delayed — the 15-day calculation that earns compensation.
• How to add or change a bank nominee — fix it while it is easy.
• Nominee vs legal heir in life insurance — who actually gets the money.
• No nominee — claiming a deceased account as legal heir.
• Housing society flat: nominee vs legal heir.
• Transmission of shares and mutual funds after death.

Courts are public institutions, and much of what they do is checking and collecting. You can do a surprising amount yourself.

• Court case status check on eCourts — CNR, party name and case number searches explained.
• Court order not uploaded, or case status wrong — first things to check.
• How to apply for a caveat — get heard before someone gets an order against you.
• Executing a civil court money decree — winning is half the job; collecting is the other half.
• How to reply to a legal notice.
• Old court order copy not traceable.
• Free legal aid: income limits by state — you may qualify and not know it.

Most pages in this hub are about acting in a dispute. RTI plays a different role: it gets records — mutation entries, file notings, survey maps, certificate case files — that make those disputes winnable. A records request will not move a judge faster, but it will tell you where your file stopped and who signed what.

• How to file an RTI — the complete guide if a government office is sitting on your papers.
• RTI vs alternatives decision matrix to pick between RTI, consumer court and grievances.
• Consumer court: how to file for defective services and refunds.
• The RTI Playbook — the full citizen method, from first application to second appeal.

Curated for RTI Wiki by Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak.