How to gift a property: what conditions need to be fulfilled for a real estate gift to be valid

There are various methods of transferring property and one such is 'gift'. The expression gift means transferring movable or immovable property by a person to another person out of love, for services rendered, or in appreciation of an excellent action or deed.

Under the Hindu law, a gift of immovable property of any value must be made through an instrument called the 'gift deed', which must be registered. It must be within the framework of the Transfer of Property Act, Registration Act, and The Indian Succession Act.

According to the Transfer of Property Act, a gift is a voluntary transfer of existing movable or immovable property from one person to another person without any price consideration. The person who transfers the property is called the 'donor' and the person who accepts the transfer is called the 'donee'. A transfer is not complete without acceptance.

A gift must be free, absolute and unconditional except in cases where a land or building is donated for a particular purpose, like constructing a school or college, running a hospital or an institution. The deed may be revoked if the conditions are not fulfilled. A gift with the condition that the donee will not alienate the property is irrevocable.

The donor can give in gift an existing property, and not a property that he might acquire in future. The donor must ensure that the donee is competent enough to accept the gift. Only a major can make a gift and not a minor unless the guardian of the minor is empowered to do so. A minor too can accept a gift if he can understand what it is all about, or he can accept it through his guardian.

The bare essentials of a gift deed are, it must be done on donor's free will and without any price consideration, it must be accepted by the person or on behalf of the person to whom it is transferred, it must be done during the life time of the donor and the donee, it must be an existing property and not a future one.

A deed of gift is similar to a deed of conveyance. The apparent difference is that the consideration is love and affection the donor has towards the donee. As a gift requires acceptance by the donee, it is the general practice to make the donee a party to the deed and to make him an executing party as well.
The deed must contain a brief narration as to how the donor got possession of property, that he has the legal right to part with the property, that he is competent to transfer the property, that it is his self-acquired property or his share of ancestral property, that the property is not encumbered, and if encumbered how he will indemnify the donee against any monetary loss, and that the donee is competent to accept the gift.

A donor can transfer an immovable property to the donee out of love and affection he has for the donee, in cases where relatives are involved, or out of consideration of esteem or regard when the property is gifted to a person for whom the donor has high regard or for the benefit of the society for a particular cause.

If the gift is to a public trust or a charitable institution, it is always advisable to follow the procedure of a sale by scrutinising the title as to its ownership, marketability and encumbrance. It must be in writing.

This is necessary because after accepting the gift if the donee invests money on the property by making additions, alterations and renovations to the existing building, and finds that the title to the property is defective at a later date, the donee will have to face innumerable problems.

Defective title prevents the donee from making profitable use of the property. He can neither lease nor mortgage it. Therefore, the donee before accepting the gift must make sure that the donor has the right to part with the property.

The donor must sign a deed of gift and two witnesses must attest his signature. A deed of gift pertaining to an immovable property must be registered. A deed of gift needs the donee's acceptance and therefore the general practice is not only the donee is made party to the deed but also make him an executing party. If the donee does not accept the gift, the mere fact of registration will not make the gift legal.

When a property is transferred in gift, the donor renounces his right, title and interest in the property and the donee is free to use the property and alienate it as he wishes, unless it is conditional. A gift is considered invalid if the property gifted is not in existence, if the donees refuses to accept it, if it is made revocable by the donor, if it is a gift in future, if it is an illegal transfer, or if it is transferred to an incompetent person.

Tags: methods of transferring property, transferring movable property, transferring immovable property, Hindu Law, gift deed, Transfer of Property Act, Registration Act, The Indian Succession Act, donor, donee, donor's free will, Defective title, transfer of property

Kids bedroom: 7 tips to make kids bedroom perfect

For kids, their bedroom is where they play games, read, listen to music, day-dream, or just go to be alone sometimes. So use these strategies to help create a space that will make your child happy

• Talk to your child. Find out what activities and fantasies he or she enjoys; what their favorite color is; and what's unique about their personality that a theme could be built around.

• Let your child have a say about colors, fabrics, and how they want to display their collectibles.

• Make the room multi-functional with exlcusive kids furniture. Since children use their room for many activities besides sleeping, it should have several different zones, such as a play area, reading area, and entertainment area. And for furniture, you should take consultation from Attitude.

• Make storage a priority.

• Keep window treatments simple. Avoid long draperies. Shades, blinds, and shorter curtains are safer choices.

• Choose the right lighting.

• Use wallpaper or paint to add color and texture. And the furniture should be attractive to the kids. Attitude will have some new range of kids furniture very soon. Allow your child to select the design theme.

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Right size furniture for your home: lamps, sofa, table, cocktail table, floral arrangements

•Lamps - should be 28 to 32 inches higher than the arms of the sofa. Don't scrimp on shade size.

•A painting above a sofa should be about the same size as a cocktail table. Groupings of pictures should take up about 1/2 to 3/4 the size of the sofa.

•To look right, an end table should be approximately 1/4 to 1/3 the length of the sofa. Keep it around 27 inches tall (give or take an inch or two) but no more than four inches taller that the sofa arm.

•Your cocktail table should about 16" - 17" inches in height and approximately 1/2 the width of the sofa.

•Floral arrangements are fabulous, but keep them fresh looking and never block conversational view.

•You don't have to go overboard on an area rug, but be sure it is at least bigger than the coffee table. A rule of thumb to keep it from being too big, is to have it cover the "conversational area" of the grouping of furniture it is under.

•Keep your sofa under 1/2 the length of the wall it is against. That is a general rule that won't apply if you have a very tiny space.

•if your throw pillows are around 20 to 24 inches they should look great on a sofa or even a chair.

Tags: Lamps, shade size, paintings, picture groupings, end table length, cocktail table, floral arrangements, area rug, throw pillows, pillow size, chair size, painting size

Make small apartment look bigger: let studio flat, apartment, one bedroom flat look bigger

As more and more people shift to the central city area in search of jobs, studio flats are coming up in a big way. Instead of staying as a paying guest or juggling for space in a dormitory, youngsters these days are happier to rent a studio flat that just has one main room. Getting a studio flat may not be difficult but living there in style is certainly baffling. But really, all one needs is an imaginative mind to create a cozy nook. Huge pieces of furniture are a no-no for anyone renting a studio apartment. Four post beds and fancy teakwood cupboards don't have any place there. The thumb rule for good living in a studio apartment is to choose sleek and multi-utilitarian furniture. Buy good quality multi-purpose furniture that can be restructured when one moves into a larger home. "Innovative storage areas need to be carved out in spaces that would otherwise have gone wasted. A simple method would be to go for a window seat or platform bed over drawers. Just install an efficient closet system instead of a bureau," advised a senior official of Attitude and continued, "another clever way to utilise space is by creating storage space on the walls, doors and even the ceiling using shelves, bins and hooks. Baskets and funky vintage suitcases can double up as a stackable storage as well as side tables and nightstands."

One could use a chest or an ottoman as a tea table and storage unit. It just takes some ingenuity to treat a tailored daybed as extra seating space or configure wood storage cubes to any height or width. Interior decorators say that the best way to make a one-room flat look spacious is to arrange the furniture diagonally. Full-length mirrors, if used judiciously, can give the room an expansive perspective. A collection of small framed mirrors hung from a window will bounce the light around. Often transparent and reflective pieces of furniture with glass or plastic shelves and tabletops can also create an illusion of space. One of the most innovative ways to manage space is to create rooms within the main room itself. Classy curtains hung from the ceilings will subtly separate two zones. Another bright idea would be to place a rug (in warm hues) in one section. Low shoe racks or even bookshelves can act as dividers too.

What creates the magic is the identification of one focal point and then doing it up. The focal point could be a divan with some cushions and bolsters thrown in to give a relaxed look. Even a sofa that doubles up as a bed at night could serve as the focal point. Apart from the central point that needs to stand out, it's advisable to use the similar tones on the wall and in the furniture as well.

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8 home interior color tips, color schemes for rocking bedroom, walls, ceilings, living room

1. When you decorate your home, think twice about the colours you use. Plan out properly the colour scheme before you even buy the paint.

2. That bright colour might look great in a tiny swatch but garish on an entire wall. Use a free colour visualising tool to help you visualise how the wall would look in your chosen colour, before you spend money on the paints.

3. If you choose a bright colour, consider confining it to a single wall with neutral colours, on the rest of the walls to balance the look. Light colours make a room look larger while dark colours make a room cozier.

4. To make the ceiling look higher, try a very pale colour or white to make it recede. You could try painting the ceiling sky blue so it looks like you are looking up to the never ending sky when you look up towards the ceiling.

5. Wood gives the room a warmer, homelier, back to nature feel. A room with wooden wallpaper, wood floors, and ceiling, lit with warm lights gives you a comforting, cosy atmosphere.

6. Get your basic colour scheme right first. The colour of the floor, walls and ceiling should all complement one another. You could use the exact same colour on the walls and ceiling for an unbroken, harmonious look in a room, to form the background before you add the furnishings or furniture.

7. To use, choose the colour or wallpaper for the wall. Next, choose the floor colour. Then choose the ceiling colour. Finally pick the furnishings. These are compared against the wall colour or the floor colour.

8. Dark colours are easier to maintain as dirt does not show up so easily. Consider black colour for sofa sets, tables and other heavily used furniture, especially if you have little kids or pets in your home.

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Safe baby delivery: Types of baby delivery

I know of a lady who had a caesarian section baby delivery, you will be astonished to know how uninvolved she was through out the process. Her body was numb and a bed-sheet hindered her view of the surgery. When she finally knew that the baby was crying, it took her sometime to realize that the sound was actually coming from her own baby.

Since that was a caesarian baby delivery, she later told me, within a few hours she could figured out that due to pain killer and other medicines she was not being alert of the proceedings and could not focused on the new born baby. Once the affect of the pain killer drugs reduced she consciously realized the distinct and unique cry of her baby.

Delivery is normally known as the part of the second stage. The process begins with complete dilatation and gets over after the baby comes out of the mother.

Normally, Pregnancy should be measured in trimesters from the very first day of the mother’s last menstrual period (LMP), totals up to 40 weeks. Broaldy babies arrive in around one week or two weeks of the predictable delivery date notwithstanding the medical intervention. It’s always advisable though the mother takes specialist assistance.

During the advanced period, pregnant and worried moms have many questions in their mind;

How will she recognize that this is labor?
How will she be able to manage the pain?
Is she prepared enough for this extraordinary event?


Teenage pregnancy

Tags: Baby delivery, pregnancy, pregnant baby delivery, safe baby delivery

Quick Pilates exercise: 10 minute pilates

You may have noticed many an exercises which can tone your biceps at the front of the upper arms, but there is one difficulty though, you can not reach the area underneath. Here is one pilate exercise which should help you. Always remember that the side press-ups have been defined as powerful exercise. You must be aware of the fact that both incorporate the "zip" movement. You may gently squeeze your back passage while bringing the feeling forward to your pubic bone. Then you draw these muscles up inside until you feel your lower abdomen hollow.

This pilate exercise requires you not to use a hand weight of more than 3 kilos. Lie with your knees bent, hip-width apart and parallel. Between your knees place a small cushion, gently zip it and squeeze the cushion while breathing normally throughout. In your left hand hold the weight. Extend Stretch the left arm beyond the left shoulder while palm facing inwards. The upper part is steady and standstill with your right hand. Now gradually take the weight towards your left shoulder, remain the upper part of your left arm still. Now straight your arm and turn your arm in such a way so that the palm faces away from you while knuckles towards you. Gradually decrease the weight towards the right shoulder, keep the upper arm still. Straighten your arm again. Turn your arm back so that the palm faces inwards. Repeat up to 10 times with each arm.

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What is Pilates: Definition of pilates, why its so successful

Pilates is nothing but a form of exercise, originally developed by Joseph Pilates. It is Joseph Pilates who gave emphasis to the unprejudiced development of the body through concepts like flexibility, core strength and awareness in order to support efficient, graceful movement.

Over the last few years Pilates has become one of the most popular exercises in the world.

These days it the whole world is doing Pilates and that too quite religiously. And then there are those who are eager to start a Pilates exercise program. The success behind Pilates exercise program lies in its simplicity. Its not heavy duty, it does not need lot of instruments, with proper guidance you can do it in the corner of your room. And most importantly it works for going beyond all kinds of geographic and health barriers, it works for all kinds of people. Its not athletes and dancers, who love it, along with them senior citizens, women rebounding from pregnancy, and people at various stages of life are also doing pilates exercise.

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Lotto Toto ad

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Marine Aquarium Fishy Assets

Before you turn your nose up at the idea of aquarium fish as a status symbol, let’s clarify that we aren’t talking about the ubiquitous goldfish bowl. The latest indication of a healthy bank balance is a well-maintained marine aquarium, with its own anemone, clown fish (made popular by the film, Finding Nemo) and more exotic species like the scorpion fish, the Moorish idol or the Picasso triggerfish. Marine fish are several times more colourful and eye-arresting than their freshwater counterparts and come at a heftier price tag. Also, remember that many of these species are endangered and buying them without proper documentation could result in a large chunk of your bonus being spent on bailing yourself out of prison.

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A Ferritti Yacht Ride Seas

It’s a dream, but imagine if your boss rewarded you with his American Express black card, what are your options? If you are sea-worthy and get very lucky (there is a long waiting), you could opt for one of the sexy 44 ft Italian Ferritti yachts and sail off into the Mediterranean seas. You could book for it in India too. Of course if your conscience does not pinch you and you are a huge Robbie Williams fan, you could get lured into one of the high-end Riva (Williams yacht cost him US$ 14.4 million) yachts or settle for the Ferritis, which range from Rs 4 crore to Rs 25 crore apiece. If you don’t want to take our word for it, try what Italian conductor Riccardo Muti said of his Ferritti 57 (it cost him approximately Rs 16 crores), “Its elegance and efficiency was just like an orchestra, which can be recognised on the radio.” Also, you enter the exclusive lifestyle of the Riva club and rub shoulders with other Ferritti yacht aficionados like the Shah of Iran, Prince Rainier of Monaco among others.

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Aracde Gaming Down Memory Lane

If you miss the pleasure of the good old arcade gaming days, and fondly remember the great racing games as well as the soda-covered joysticks and greedy coin slots, the BigGames Home Video Arcades is just made for you. The cabinet-sized console packs in all the classic Midway games like Defender, Robotron and Joust and you can even plug in any Xbox or Playstation into the 14-inch monitor. We prefer calling this the Swiss Army box of gaming.

Tags: Aracde Gaming Down, BigGames Home Video Arcades, Xbox, Playstation

Segway Human Transporter rule the roads

Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi loves it, George Bush fell off while riding one and recently, the US Commercial Consul in Mumbai challenged Bollywood actor John Abraham to a race on it. The threeyear-old Segway Human Transporter is finally hitting the popularity charts even outside US. It was a big hit at the World Expo 2006 in Japan and from what we hear, the Segway HT is all set to make its debut in India soon. It’s good to own one — not just because it’s a nice toy to flaunt but Segways can make life easy in our congested city roads.

Tags: Junichiro Koizumi, George Bush, John Abraham, Segway Human Transporter, World Expo Japan

Golf Travel: Ryder Cup 2008

It’s just not enough to flaunt expensive golfing gears and a good handicap score. A golfer’s experience is never complete without having witnessed the Ryder Cup matches. A biennial event, it pits the best of American professionals against the Europeans and is, by far, the most prestigious event in the golfing calendar. For the 36th Ryder Cup, to be held in September 2006 at the K Club near Dublin, tickets are almost sold out. But hold on, there’s still a chance. Perry-Golf, a full-service tour operator dedicated to golf, is not just promising tickets to all three days of the Ryder Cup but also opportunities to play golf on Ireland’s best courses, including the Jack Nicklaus-designed Mount Juliet. The final three nights of the tour will be conducted aboard the Clipper Adventurer, and guests travel to three more courses, including the Ballybunion Golf Club.

Tags: Ryder Cup 2008, Ryder Cup traveling, Ryder Cup Tours, Ryder Cup 2008, Golf Tour Ryder Cup

Hot air ballooning in Turkey: A whole new world

How about getting a bird’s eye view of the lunar landscape without the discomfort of wearing spacesuits? Turkey’s inaccessible Cappadocia valleys and narrow canyons are nature’s most dramatic geological formations formed by volcanic explosions, three million years back. And there’s no better way to explore the Cappadocia than on a gentle, free-floating balloon 10,000 feet above sea level. What’s more, at the end of the flight you can head to hotels that are housed within caves, complete with all modernday amenities. Can it get any better than this? The best season to go is during summer.

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Heli Skiing in the Himalayas for the brave at hearts

This isn’t for the faint-hearted. Someone who’s been through both the thrills of a helicopter tour of New York and skiing down the Alps will know what we’re talking about. For those who haven’t yet, we suggest heli-skiing in the Himalayas, at places like Hanuman Tibba, Rohtang Pass, Deo Tibba or Chanderkhani Pass, near Manali. You are transported by helicopter to otherwise inaccessible snow-draped peaks, and you ski down a 14,000-feet-high slope to the distant whirr of rotor blades, the sky and snow, and nothing else. With some of the best slopes, largely inaccessible otherwise, heli-skiing is catching up in India. The best season is December to February.

Tags: Himalayas, Heli Skiing, helisking, Himalayas Heliskiing, helicopter tourism, helicopter travel, Hanuman Tibba, Rohtang Pass, Deo Tibba, Chanderkhani Pass, Manali

What people want to be forgotten for

Former India President A P J Abdul Kalam had a great idea for the recent special edition of The Times of India brought out under his guidance: Why not ask politicians, social workers, scientists, artists what they wanted to be remembered for? “It’ll make them think,” he said, “and who knows it might make them also change the course of their lives. For instance, if a politician is busy making deals, he might wonder if he wishes to be remembered only as a wheeler-dealer. Put all the responses on a page and let people read. The readers will be able to tell who is sincere and who is not.”

Unfortunately, in answering such a question the truth can get heavily skewed in favour of a personal bias, for who wants to be remembered for negative actions and failings? (Though in all fairness, conservationist Valmik Thapar did say he would like to be remembered for his failing to save the wild tiger even after 30 years of trying.) Of the 29 respondents only two didn’t want to be remembered: politician Pramod Mahajan (“I don’t think I have done anything worthwhile for which people should remember me”) and actor Konkona Sen Sharma (“I don’t want to be remembered for anything. I haven’t done anything yet”). But then they were perhaps being a little too unassuming. The rest in general wanted to be remembered for some real or perceived integrity.

But would that really be serving President Kalam’s purpose — this focussed showcasing of positive traits or even, in its absence, humility? How would Hitler have responded? Would he have mentioned his mediocre watercolour attempts? Or, Mussolini? For making trains run on time? May be the President should have told the Times to ask instead: “What do you want to be forgotten for?”

Now there, either the truth will really come out (“For being a bloody bigot all my life, what else”) and people will know the person was being genuinely honest (and perhaps remember him all the more for it). Or if it doesn’t, or dribbles out in fake confessionals (“For sometimes stealing towels from hotel rooms I was staying in”), they’ll know the person was lying through her teeth (and perhaps forget her all the more for it). So let’s see now, how would Mother Theresa have responded? Would she have said something like, “For even appearing to be discriminating between religions and thus stoking a controversy in the minds of some people”? I don’t know, just a thought.

Spa Therapy Stress Buster

One of the closest synonyms for luxury is a spa experience. Of course, when we say spa, we are talking of choosing one of the island resorts in the Maldives, like the Taj Exotica or the Six Senses, where you could probably land in your private jet, surrounded by the clear water of the coral reefs around you and the expanse of the ocean spread before you. You have an array of massages — Balinese, Thai, Hot Stone, ayurveda or aroma or one of the more exotic treatments as well. Choose the mat on the white sands and let the soothing sounds of the ocean drive your stress away.

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