Gifting Property to Family: The Gift Deed Rules That Matter

Parents often want to pass a flat or a plot to a child during their lifetime instead of waiting for a will to take effect. The usual tool is a gift deed. It looks simple, but a gift of land or a building is valid only if a few formalities are met, and once it is complete it is very hard to undo. Here is what the law says.

What counts as a gift

Section 122 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 describes a gift as a transfer of existing property made voluntarily and without consideration, which the donee accepts. Two points matter in practice. There must be no price or payment in return, and the person receiving the property must accept it while the donor is alive and still able to give. If the donee dies before accepting, the gift fails.¹

Registration and two witnesses

For immovable property, Section 123 requires the transfer to be made by a registered instrument, signed by or for the donor and attested by at least two witnesses.¹ Section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908 separately makes registration of a gift deed of immovable property compulsory.² A handwritten note, a family settlement on plain paper or an unregistered deed does not pass ownership of a house. Stamp duty on gift deeds is fixed by each state, and some states charge lower rates when the donee is a close relative, so the local schedule should be checked before execution. Gifts made under Muslim personal law (hiba) follow their own rules, which Section 129 keeps outside this chapter of the Act.¹

Can a gift be cancelled later?

Section 126 allows a gift to be suspended or revoked only in limited cases: when donor and donee agreed that it would end on a specified event that does not depend on the donor's own wish, or on grounds that would let a contract be set aside, such as fraud, coercion or undue influence. A clause that lets the donor take the property back simply at will is itself void.¹ In N. Thajudeen v. Tamil Nadu Khadi and Village Industries Board (2024 INSC 817), the Supreme Court held that a donor's one-sided revocation deed had no effect, since the original gift reserved no right to revoke it.³

A special route for senior citizens

Section 23 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 adds a protection. If a senior citizen transfers property on the condition that the transferee will provide basic amenities and physical needs, and the transferee then fails to do so, the transfer is treated as obtained by fraud, coercion or undue influence, and the Maintenance Tribunal may declare it void at the senior citizen's option.⁴ In Urmila Dixit v. Sunil Sharan Dixit (2025 INSC 20, decided on 2 January 2025), the Supreme Court set aside a gift deed on this basis and said tribunals may also restore possession to the parent.⁵ Earlier, in Sudesh Chhikara v. Ramti Devi (2022), the Court had said that such a condition has to be established before the Tribunal, so the wording of the deed and any related documents can decide the outcome.⁵

Practical points

• Get the deed registered, with two attesting witnesses, before treating the property as transferred.
• Record the donee's acceptance, for example by the donee signing the deed or taking possession.
• Check your state's stamp duty schedule, including any family concession.
• If the gift depends on the donee looking after you, write that condition clearly in the deed itself.
• Do not insert a "revoke whenever I like" clause; the law treats it as void.
• After registration, apply for mutation in municipal or land records so the new owner is reflected.