Conveyancing, Agreements and Miscellaneous Legal Drafting
Conveyancing, Agreements and Miscellaneous Legal Drafting tests the transfer and creation of interests in property, and the drafting of allied instruments such as wills, trusts and powers of attorney.
Core instruments
- Sale deed: Section 54 of the Transfer of Property Act 1882 requires registration for tangible immovable property worth ₹100 or more; the deed should contain title recitals, consideration, receipt, covenant of title, possession and schedule.
- Lease: Section 105 defines lease; Section 107 requires registration of a lease exceeding one year. Draft rent, deposit, escalation, user, repairs, forfeiture, renewal and termination.
- Mortgage: Section 58 covers simple, usufructuary, English and equitable mortgages; registration and stamp duty depend on the instrument.
- Gift: Sections 122 to 126 require acceptance and registration for immovable property.
- Will: Section 63 of the Indian Succession Act 1925 requires writing, signature and attestation by two witnesses.
- Power of attorney: general or special; authentication and registration may be required for immovable property under Section 17 of the Registration Act 1908.
Worked example
A five-year lease at ₹50,000 monthly rent and ₹3 lakh interest-free deposit is reduced to writing. Because the term exceeds one year, the lease must be registered and stamped. The deed should attach the property schedule, state the rent due date, the deposit refund condition, the lessee’s user obligation, the lessor’s repair obligation, the termination notice period and the consequences of default. The reasoning is that an unregistered lease for five years is inadmissible for proving the lease, and an incomplete deed invites disputes over rent and possession.
Traps
Understating rent or consideration to reduce stamp duty; omitting the receipt clause; failing to attach the schedule; using a notarised power of attorney for a transaction requiring registration; and executing a will with only one attesting witness.