Memorandum of Family Settlement

Stamp duty

Duty follows what the words DO. A memorandum recording a completed arrangement is generally not chargeable as a conveyance — but s.2(15), Indian Stamp Act, 1899 defines an "instrument of partition" to include any writing by which co-owners divide or AGREE to divide, so dividing words attract duty. Punjab and Chandigarh share article numbers (23 conveyance, 45 partition, 55 release, 58 settlement) but rates have diverged since 1966. PUT A VALUE ON THE FACE OF THE INSTRUMENT — duty is ad valorem in both, and a value-less document cannot be assessed (and is easiest to impound later, s.33). State the consideration and the Collector rate, whichever is higher. CHANDIGARH: 2% of property value, registration 1% capped at Rs 10,000 plus Rs 20 pasting. The same table exempts a blood-relation transfer, prices a sale/gift/conveyance at 5% and an exchange at 3% — which line applies is for the Sub-Registrar to decide. Collector rates from 1 April 2026: Sectors 1-12 Rs 2,37,900/sq yd, 14-37 Rs 1,81,300, 38 onwards Rs 1,33,200. Caution: the rates table is undated and the online calculator LAGS the notified schedule — take the percentage from the calculator, the base value from the published Schedule. PUNJAB: NOT published — get it assessed in writing by the Tehsildar before buying stamp paper; the departmental table covers sale, gift, power of attorney, mortgage, lease and will, but not partition, settlement or release. Duty falls on the SMALLER shares separated, not the whole property (four equal sharers pay three-quarters of value; a two-thirds sharer separating pays one-third — Stamp Manual note 84); value means consideration or the Collector rate, whichever is higher; the blood-relation remission (Order S.O.28/2014) may or may not reach a SETTLEMENT as opposed to a conveyance — ask; Punjab's three purchase add-ons (1% cess, 1% PIDB, 0.25% SIDF) may or may not apply too. Rs 200 pasting on all documents; Rs 600 mutation fee. E-STAMPING is live in both via SHCIL — buy in a PARTY's name. Punjab requires it above Rs 49,999 and now locks unused certificates after four months (11 July 2026 Notification) — do not buy long before signing. Under-stamped instruments are inadmissible (s.35); the impounding power (s.33) binds every court and public office alike, with a penalty of up to ten times the deficiency.

Registration

Registration turns on the same distinction as duty: a memorandum merely recording a completed arrangement need not be registered (Kale v. Deputy Director of Consolidation). One that itself creates or extinguishes a right worth Rs 100 or more MUST be (s.17(1)(b)), inadmissible unregistered (s.49). Present within 4 months (s.23); s.25 allows 4 more at a tenfold penalty. CHANDIGARH: Sub-Registrar, 30 Bays Building, Sector 17 (present noon-1pm, register 3-5pm). Fee 1% capped at Rs 10,000 plus Rs 20 pasting. Freehold sale/transfer/gift/exchange goes in triplicate; a settlement in duplicate, with photographs of executants and claimants. KEY POINT: registration is NOT the gate here. The Estate Office checklist takes a certified copy if registered ('non mandatory') or a notarised copy if not — it insists instead on the Annexure-1/2/3 pack, photo ID, the death certificate, bank clearance, an occupation certificate. Notified service: 40 days where a public notice is required (20 after the notice) — Notification No. 28/67/1-IH(9)-2026/73238, 30 March 2026. Foreign documents need Finance Department embossing first. Auto-mutation (since 2025) runs only off REGISTERED deeds — an unregistered settlement still needs the ordinary Estate Office application. LEASEHOLD COST FAMILIES MISS: Rule 7(i) bars transfer for 15 years; Rule 7(ii) takes a third of the unearned increase — the premium enhanced 9% a year compounded, against current market value — BEFORE registration, needing the Estate Officer's prior NOC. Rule 7(iii)'s exception is CLOSED: mother, father, spouse, son, daughter only, NOT a sibling, grandchild or daughter-in-law (the shape of most settlements) — assume the charge applies until told otherwise. Pre-2007 allotments may run under different rules. PUNJAB: Easy Registry (NGDRS 3.0), all 22 districts — the Tehsildar as ex officio Sub-Registrar. Fee: 1% (min Rs 50, max Rs 2,00,000) compulsory, Rs 400 optional, Rs 200 pasting. A one-day notified service. Then the MUTATION families actually care about: a registered deed auto-sends the Parcha Yadasht; an UNREGISTERED memorandum generates nothing — separately report to the Halqa Patwari (s.34; s.39 fines late reporting up to 5x the fee). The Circle Revenue Officer sanctions, recovers Rs 600 (separately per holding and for the shamilat). A 45-day notified service; appeal runs Collector (30 days), Commissioner (60), Financial Commissioner (90). PUNJAB AUTHORITY LAND (GMADA etc.): no jamabandi, only an allotment file (s.43(6)-(7), 1995 Act) — apply to the estate branch with this Memorandum, the allotment letter, photo ID. GMADA fee Rs 2,500/5,000; transfer fee 2.5%/5% pre-conveyance. Its 'within family' (father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, brother, sister) is WIDER than Chandigarh's list. Registering out of caution is usually cheaper — Rs 400 in Punjab.

Notarisation

No law requires notarisation, and it is not a substitute for registration — a notary's seal on an unregistered transfer adds nothing to admissibility. Do it anyway, on the day of signing: it fixes the date and identities. Chandigarh: NOT decorative — on the critical path. The Estate Office checklist accepts only a notarised copy of an unregistered settlement, requiring the Annexure-2 affidavit attested by a Notary Public and the Annexure-3 bond on Rs 15 stamp paper (a notarised affidavit is now accepted instead of an Executive Magistrate's). Punjab: no equivalent requirement, but the municipal body (property-tax name change) and a development authority's estate branch commonly want a notarised affidavit before acting on an unregistered instrument. A party signing abroad uses an Indian consular officer or a local notary with apostille; stamp here within three months (s.18) — and, for Chandigarh, emboss via the Finance Department first.

Witnesses

No statutory attestation requirement (unlike a gift, s.123, or a will, s.63) — sign before two anyway; both jurisdictions expect it. THE FIRST-WITNESS RULE IS PUNJAB'S OWN AND APPLIES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BOUNDARY: para 127, Punjab Registration Manual requires the first witness to be a specified class (Lambardar/Sarpanch/Panchayat member rurally, or councillor/gazetted officer/advocate), both known to each other, the first known to the registering officer — governing Sub-Registrar counters in BOTH states. It bites hardest at the 30 Bays Building's one-hour window. Bring someone who qualifies in either place. Punjab wants two witnesses on a settlement's execution, attending in person with photo ID. Chandigarh needs photographs of executants/claimants on every copy, and the Annexure-3 indemnity bond itself witnessed by two, attested by the competent authority.