If a parent has died and a brother or sister wants you to give up your share of the property to them, the document is a relinquishment deed. The stamp schedules call it a release, and it has to be registered. The stamp duty depends on the state: Rs 500 for a family release of ancestral property in Maharashtra, Rs 100 for any release in Delhi and Rs 15 for a family release of ancestral property in Haryana.

The deed can go only to someone who already holds a share, such as a brother, sister or parent who inherited alongside you. A deed in favour of anyone else, including a son-in-law or a daughter-in-law who is not a co-owner, is a gift or a sale and is stamped as one. A WillJini lawyer first works out who the legal heirs are, to confirm who can receive the share.

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If the family is dividing the property among everyone rather than one heir giving a share to another, a partition or a family settlement is the route. If you have been told a release and a relinquishment are different documents, they are one instrument under two names. To have WillJini handle the transfer among heirs, see inheritance and property transfer assistance.

Related guides:

• Release deed or relinquishment deed
• Release deed or gift deed
• What a release deed is
• Family settlement deed in India
• Partition deed or family settlement deed

What Is a Relinquishment Deed, and Who Can Sign One?

A relinquishment deed is the document an heir or co-owner signs to give up their share of a property to one or more of the people who own it with them. Only someone who already holds a share, whether inherited or bought, can receive it this way, and a deed in favour of anyone else is a gift or a sale. The person giving up the share is the releasor, and the person receiving it is the releasee.

A sibling or a widow who has inherited a share can give it up to one or more of the other heirs. A release between co-owners has the same force as one between members of a Hindu joint family (coparceners).

For property the owner acquired themselves, a relinquishment can be made only after the owner's death. Section 6(a) of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 says the chance of an heir-apparent succeeding to an estate cannot be transferred, so while the owner is alive an heir has no share in that property to give up.

A co-owner can be paid for the share they give up, although in Maharashtra the Rs 500 family rate applies only where nothing is paid in any form. In Delhi, the Rs 100 is for a release where nothing is paid; for a paid release the Revenue Department's checklist asks for the correct stamp duty without naming a rate.

Does a Relinquishment Deed Have to Be Registered?

Registration is compulsory: section 17(1)(b) of the Registration Act, 1908 requires it for any document that ends a right, title or interest worth Rs 100 or more in immovable property, and a release ends the releasor's interest. Delhi's Revenue Department lists release among the documents that must be registered.

Under section 49, an unregistered release has no effect on the property and cannot be received as evidence of the transaction, except in a suit for specific performance or for a collateral purpose. The signed deed has to be presented at the Sub-Registrar's office within four months of signing, though the Registrar can accept it within a further four months on payment of a fine of up to ten times the registration fee. Two witnesses attend to identify the person who signed it.

What Stamp Duty Is Charged on a Relinquishment Deed?

Each state sets its own stamp duty on a relinquishment deed, and a release within the family costs Rs 15 in Haryana, where the property must be ancestral, and up to Rs 40,000 in Tamil Nadu, where the duty is 1 per cent of the market value.

Maharashtra charges Rs 500 under Article 52(a) of Schedule I to the Maharashtra Stamp Act for a release of ancestral property within the family, provided nothing is paid for the share in any form. The Rs 500 rate has applied since 14 October 2024 and is now in the Act itself (Maharashtra Act IX of 2025). The relatives who qualify are the releasor's brother or sister (a child of the releasor's parents), son, daughter, a son or daughter of a predeceased son, father, mother or spouse, or the legal heirs of any of them. If any of those conditions is not met, the release is charged the Article 25 conveyance rate on the market value of the share renounced: 5 per cent in municipal corporation or urban areas and 4 per cent in gram panchayats.

Haryana also limits its family rate to ancestral property, charging Rs 15 under Article 55(a) of Schedule 1-A where the release is in favour of a sibling, child, parent, spouse, grandchild, nephew, niece or co-parcener. For every other release, Haryana applies the sale deed conveyance rate to the market value of the share renounced. Haryana does not publish the registration fee for a release where nothing is paid.

In Delhi and Uttar Pradesh the duty on a release does not depend on whether the parties are related. Delhi charges Rs 100 under Article 55 of Schedule 1-A to the Indian Stamp Act 1899 where the claim exceeds Rs 1,000, and below that amount it is the same as the duty on a bond. The Revenue Department's checklist asks for Rs 100 on a deed without consideration, and registration costs Rs 1,000 per instrument plus a Rs 100 pasting fee.

Uttar Pradesh charges a flat Rs 120 under Article 55 of Schedule I-B, paid by the person giving up the share (the figure on the department's stamp duty table, dated August 2020). The same Rs 120 applies to every release, so there is no separate family rate. Its fee table does not state the registration fee for a release at this duty.

The family rate in Karnataka is set by area under Article 45 of the Schedule to the Karnataka Stamp Act 1957, and the property need not be ancestral. It is Rs 5,000 in BMRDA, BBMP and City Corporation areas, Rs 3,000 in City or Town Municipal Councils and Town Panchayats, and Rs 1,000 elsewhere, with a registration fee of Rs 1,000. Family, for this rate, means the spouse, children, parents, brothers and sisters, the wife or children of a predeceased son or brother, the husband or children of a predeceased sister, and the children of a predeceased daughter. Outside the family, the deed is charged conveyance duty under Article 20(1) at 5 per cent on the highest of the market value, the claim and the consideration. Its registration fee has been 2 per cent of the market value or consideration, whichever is higher, since 31 August 2025.

A family release in Tamil Nadu is charged 1 per cent of the market value, capped at Rs 40,000, with a registration fee of 1 per cent capped at Rs 10,000. The family rate covers co-parceners, which the Tamil text of the duty table describes as co-owners by inheritance. A release between co-owners who are not family, or a benami release, is charged 7 per cent stamp duty and a 1 per cent registration fee.

Telangana's registration fee on a release is 0.5 per cent in favour of a family member, with a minimum of Rs 2,000 and a maximum of Rs 25,000, and 0.5 per cent capped at Rs 1,00,000 for anyone else. The stamp duty on a release is not on the department's published rate card. Where a state does not publish a figure, WillJini confirms it with the Sub-Registrar's office as part of the registration.

What Documents Does the Registration Office Ask For?

Delhi and Haryana publish checklists that cover a release deed, and both ask for identity proof of the parties and two witnesses.

For a relinquishment or release deed without consideration, the Delhi Revenue Department's registration checklist asks for the original documents with one set of photocopies, two passport photographs on both copies, and the original identity proof of the releasor, the releasee and the two witnesses. It also lists the Rs 100 stamp duty, the registration fee receipt with an undertaking or affidavit, the family or legal heir details, and the death certificate of the original owner.

Haryana's Jamabandi checklist asks for proof of ownership, which can be the Fard of Jamabandi, a certified copy of the old sale deed, the municipal corporation assessment or a mutation record, along with identity proof of the parties and the two witnesses, a map plan and a photograph of the building or plot. For a release deed it also asks for the inheritance mutation, called the Mutation of Virasat, to identify the ancestral property.

Can a Relinquishment Deed Be Challenged or Cancelled?

To undo a registered release, you have to sue in a civil court to cancel or set it aside. The releasor cannot revoke it on their own, because the deed has already ended their interest in the property, and section 126 of the Transfer of Property Act, which allows some gifts to be revoked, does not apply to a release. The suit is brought on grounds such as fraud, coercion or misrepresentation.

Article 59 of the Limitation Act, 1963 allows three years to file the suit, counted from the day the facts entitling the challenger to have the deed cancelled first became known to them. For an heir who learns those facts years after the deed was registered, the three years run from the day they learned them.

Is a Relinquishment Deed the Same as a Gift Deed?

A relinquishment deed and a gift deed are different documents. A gift can pass property to someone who holds no share in it, while a release can only add to a share its receiver already holds. The Transfer of Property Act, 1882 defines a gift as a transfer of property made voluntarily, with nothing given in return, and accepted by the person receiving it (section 122), and requires it to be made by a registered deed attested by two witnesses (section 123).

In Delhi, a release costs Rs 100 in stamp duty under Article 55, plus the Rs 1,000 registration fee and the Rs 100 pasting fee. For a gift, which Article 33 charges as a conveyance, the Revenue Department publishes 4 per cent of the value where the recipient is a woman and 6 per cent where the recipient is a man, with a 1 per cent registration fee on top.

On 8 October 2025 a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court (Ramesh Sharma v. Government of NCT of Delhi, LPA 346/2020) set aside a 2020 single-judge order that had held a relinquishment to one co-owner, leaving out the others, to be a gift. In that case sisters had given up their shares to their brother, himself a co-owner, and the Bench held that this was not a gift for the purposes of the Stamp Act and directed the Collector of Stamps to release the impounded deeds. A release to one co-owner is therefore not automatically a gift, and the ruling is the authority to cite if a Sub-Registrar in Delhi impounds a release as one.

How Does WillJini Handle a Relinquishment Among Heirs?

A WillJini lawyer first reviews the assets, the legal heirs and any will, and sets out the steps the family's case needs. The team confirms the heirs and coordinates the declarations across the family, including heirs who live abroad, before drafting the affidavits and powers of attorney the family needs. WillJini deals with the Sub-Registrar and the other authorities. The last stage is the transfer and the title update, including the mutation of land or ancestral property records. WillJini quotes this work on a case-to-case basis.

FAQs

Is a relinquishment deed required to be registered?

Yes, because section 17(1)(b) of the Registration Act 1908 requires registration of any document, other than a will, that ends a right in immovable property worth Rs 100 or more, and a release ends the releasor's right. Under section 49, an unregistered release deed cannot be received as evidence of the transaction.

How much stamp duty is charged on a relinquishment deed in Maharashtra?

In Maharashtra, a release of ancestral property between the relations listed in Article 52(a), with nothing paid in any form, costs Rs 500 in stamp duty, the rate in force since 14 October 2024. Otherwise the Article 25 conveyance rate applies to the market value of the share.

Can a relinquishment deed be challenged?

A release deed can be challenged by a suit in a civil court to cancel or set it aside. Under Article 59 of the Limitation Act 1963, the suit must be filed within three years of the date the facts entitling the challenger to have the deed cancelled first become known to them, and that date can fall after the transfer.

Can a relinquishment deed be made in favour of someone who is not an heir?

A release can go to someone who is not an heir only if that person already owns a share in the property, for example as a co-owner by purchase. A deed in favour of an outsider, or of a relative who owns no share, is a gift or a sale and is charged stamp duty as one.

Can an heir relinquish a share before the property owner dies?

While the owner is alive, an heir cannot relinquish a share in property the owner acquired themselves. Section 6(a) of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 says the chance of an heir-apparent succeeding to an estate cannot be transferred, so a relinquishment of that property can operate only after the death, once the share has passed to the heir.