52% families who got assets of a demised family member transferred in the last 10 years had to pay bribes in many places

October 24, 2022, New Delhi: Asset transfer plays a crucial role for legal heirs to secure their inheritance after the demise of the person in whose name it is registered. The inheritance can be in the form of property, mutual funds/shares, brokerage accounts, bank accounts, jewellery, to cite a few examples.

Several legal formalities need to be fulfilled before the asset can be transferred to the heirs. Generally, if the deceased person leaves a Will or makes a voluntary transfer, the process requires submission of a death certificate, copy of Will, and property papers to get ownership transfer. For a property where the owner expires without a Will, inheritance formalities will involve a settlement document reached by all legal heirs. That said, transferring an asset is not an easy process in India.

Citizens on LocalCircles platform over the last 3 years have shared that many of them have had to pay a bribe to the concerned authorities as they had been advised that it would make the registration process easier, faster and without query. This includes situations where revenue records are not tallying, queries to prove ancestry, latest Government rules or amendments, sharing data with the civic authorities, reducing stamp duties under ignorant causes, etc. To quantify the magnitude of the issues, LocalCircles conducted a national survey which received more than 26,000 responses from citizens residing in 303 districts of India. Of the total respondents 67% were men and 33% were women; 48% respondents were from tier 1, 27% from tier 2 and 25% respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts.

Only 23% families who attempted were able to easily get the assets of a deceased family member transferred while the majority have had to struggle

The first question in the survey asked citizens about their experience with regards to transfer of assets—property, mutual funds/shares, brokerage accounts, bank accounts, jewellery, etc—post demise of a family member in the last 10 years. In response, 13% said they had a “straightforward process as there was a registered will”, and 19% shared that “there was a registered will but despite that it was very difficult”. There were also 10% of citizens who said that they “did not have a registered will and it was very difficult”, 27% also “did not have a registered will and have not been able to complete the process yet”. However, 10% of citizens said “we did not have a registered will but have been able to complete the process”; 8% said they “have not initiated the transfer process yet and need to do so” while 13% of citizens gave no clear indication. On an aggregate basis, only 23% of families were able to easily get the assets of a deceased family member transferred while the majority have had to struggle. This question in the survey received 8,907 responses.

52% of families who got assets of a demised family member transferred had to pay bribes, some paid in lots of places

The next question in the survey asked citizens if they had to pay a bribe, either directly or indirectly, to get the transfer of assets—property, mutual funds/shares, brokerage, accounts, bank accounts, jewellery, others, etc—post demise of a family member in the last 10 years. In response, 25% of citizens said “Yes, in lots of places” they paid a bribe, and another 27% also said “Yes, in 1-2 places”. Of the 8,983 respondents to this question, 24% of citizens stated “No” they did not have to pay a bribe; 16% said they “have not initiated the transfer of process yet”, and 8% gave no clear response. On an aggregate basis, 52% of families who got assets of a demised family member transferred had to pay bribes, some in several places.

86% of families who had to pay a bribe to get assets of a demised family member transferred had to pay bribes at property registration/land transfer offices

The following question in the survey sought citizens’ response about the offices/ departments where they had to pay a bribe to get the transfer of assets post demise of a family member in the last 10 years. In response, 26% of citizens said they paid a bribe to “(1) property registration/local land officials”, “(2) magistrate office/courts”, and “(3) other local and state government officers”. The survey data shows 21% paid bribes to “property registration/local land officials”, and 39% paid it to “1 & 3” category of offices; 14% of citizens couldn’t say. On an aggregate basis, 86% of the families who had to pay a bribe to get assets of a demised family member transferred did so at the property registration/land transfer offices. This question in the survey received 8,707 responses.

Property Registration/Land Transfer Offices & Other Local/State Government Offices are places where most families struggle to get assets transferred post demise of a family member

If categories of offices to whom most families paid a bribe to get assets transferred post demise are evaluated in the order of priority, the survey findings indicate that 86% paid it to “property registration/local land officials”, 65% paid it to “other local and State Government offices”, and 26% paid officials in the “magistrate office/courts”.

In summary, the findings of the survey indicate that asset transfer to legal heirs is indeed a herculean task in India. As indicated by the survey, only 23% of families were able to easily get the assets of a deceased family member transferred to the legal heirs while the majority struggled. This struggle has led 52% of respondents/ their families to pay bribes at several places. Amongst departments, 86% of families indicated that property registration/land transfer offices have been found to be most guilty of this practice.

The need of the hour is for the Central Government to take up the issue of difficulties faced by citizens in inheritance processing as an area of reform. Via the Department of Public Grievances or any other Ministry/Department, policies must be established which should then be rolled out to the State Governments to enable a single window system in all major districts for processing of inheritance or succession issues.

Survey Demographics

The survey received more than 26,000 responses from citizens residing in 303 districts of India. 67% respondents were men while 33% respondents were women. 48% respondents were from tier 1, 27% from tier 2 and 25% respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts. The survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform and all participants are validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.

About LocalCircles

LocalCircles, India’s leading Community Social Media platform enables citizens and small businesses to escalate issues for policy and enforcement interventions and enables Government to make policies that are citizen and small business centric. LocalCircles is also India’s # 1 pollster on issues of governance, public and consumer interest. More about LocalCircles can be found on https://www.localcircles.com

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