A release deed is the document by which you give up your share in a property to someone who already owns part of it, such as a brother who inherited it with you. In Maharashtra, releasing ancestral property to a relative listed in the Stamp Act carries Rs 500 in stamp duty, provided nothing is paid for it in any form. The deed adds your share to your brother's, and it must be registered at the Sub-Registrar's office.

WillJini drafts release deeds and quotes the fee on enquiry. Its inheritance assistance service covers the rest of the transfer, from confirming the heirs to updating the title.

Where this page sits

If the deed a relative has handed you is headed "Relinquishment Deed", it is the same document as a release deed, and the relinquishment deed guide also gives the stamp duty for Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Where every heir is taking a separate portion, read about partition and family settlement deeds.

Related guides:

• Release deed and relinquishment deed compared
• Family settlement deed in India
• How to apply for a legal heir certificate
• Stamp duty and registration charges in Telangana

What Is a Release Deed?

A release deed, also called a deed of release, is in the stamp schedules' words an instrument by which a person renounces a claim upon another person or against a specified property. In a family, one co-owner gives up a share to another. The person giving up the rights is known as the releasor, and the person receiving the rights is called the releasee.

Only someone who already owns a share can receive a release, and it can go to one such co-owner or to several. A sister can release her inherited share to her brother, but she cannot release it to her brother's wife if the wife owns no part of the property, because a deed in the wife's favour would be a gift or a sale.

When Is a Release Deed Used?

A release deed is used when one co-owner gives up a share to another: most often an heir after a parent's death, and just as validly between people who bought a property together.

A child can release a share in property that a father or mother bought or built themselves only after the parent dies. Until then the child holds only a chance of inheriting, which section 6(a) of the 1882 Transfer of Property Act says cannot be transferred.

Telangana's Registration and Stamps Department says that where there are two or more heirs, one or two can become full owners while the others take money for their shares, by a partition or by a release. In Maharashtra, a release paid for in this way falls outside the Rs 500 rate and is charged conveyance duty under Article 25.

How Does a Release Deed Work?

A release ends the releasor's interest in the property, and that share, whole or in part, joins the title the releasee already holds. It is valid only where the releasee already has an interest in the property. A deed passing a share for money to someone who owns no part of the property is a sale.

A release can be made with or without payment for the share: in Ranganayakamma v. K.S. Prakash (2008), the Supreme Court held that renunciation may or may not be for consideration. Under section 122 of the Transfer of Property Act, a gift passes property the donor owns, without payment, to a donee who accepts it. The donee need not own any part of the property already, which is one difference between a release deed and a gift deed. Section 123 requires a gift of immovable property to be made by a registered instrument that at least two witnesses attest.

What Is the Stamp Duty on a Release Deed Among Family Members?

The stamp duty on a release deed among family members is Rs 500 in Maharashtra when its conditions are met, Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 by area in Karnataka, and 1 per cent of the market value, up to Rs 40,000, in Tamil Nadu. Telangana's published rate card has no stamp duty rate for a release.

Article 52(a) in Schedule I of the Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1958 charges the Rs 500 only where the property is ancestral, the release is made without consideration in any form, and it is by or in favour of a relative the article lists. The list covers a father, mother or spouse, a brother or sister (a child of the same parents), a son or daughter, a predeceased son's son or daughter, and the legal heirs of these relatives. The Rs 500 took effect on 14 October 2024, and Maharashtra Act IX of 2025 made it statutory. The schedule does not define ancestral property, and the Sub-Registrar applies the article's words.

Any other release in Maharashtra, a paid family release included, is charged conveyance duty under Article 25 on the market value of the released share: 5 per cent inside a municipal corporation or urban area and 4 per cent in a gram panchayat. A gift deed in Maharashtra comes under Article 34, whose list of relatives leaves out a brother or sister. Article 34 charges Rs 200 on residential and agricultural property gifted to a husband, wife, son, daughter, grandson, grand-daughter or the wife of a deceased son, and Note 59 sets the registration fee on that gift at Rs 200.

Since 1 April 2016, Article 45 of the Karnataka Stamp Act, 1957 has set the family amount by where the property is: Rs 5,000 within BMRDA, BBMP or a City Corporation, Rs 3,000 in a City or Town Municipal Council or a Town Panchayat, and Rs 1,000 in any other area. The registration fee on a family release is Rs 1,000. The property need not be ancestral, and the Act lists who counts as family: a husband or wife, a son or daughter, a father or mother, a brother or sister, a predeceased brother's wife or children, a predeceased sister's husband or children, a predeceased son's wife, and the children of a predeceased son or daughter. Outside that list, the Department of Stamps and Registration charges 5 per cent stamp duty and a 2 per cent registration fee, each on the higher of the market value and the consideration; the fee rose to 2 per cent on 31 August 2025.

Tamil Nadu's 1 per cent rate applies to family members, whom the English text of its duty and fee table calls co-parceners and the Tamil text calls co-owners by inheritance. Between co-owners who are not family, or on a benami release, the duty is 7 per cent and the fee is 1 per cent.

For a release in Telangana, the Registration and Stamps Department publishes the registration fee: 0.5 per cent where the share goes to a family member, not less than Rs 2,000 and not more than Rs 25,000, and 0.5 per cent up to Rs 1,00,000 for anyone else.

Is a Release Deed Valid Without Registration?

Without registration, a release deed leaves the property untouched, and a court will not accept it as proof of the transaction. Under section 17(1)(b) of the Registration Act, 1908, every non-testamentary instrument that extinguishes a right in immovable property valued at Rs 100 or more must be registered, and a release is such an instrument. Section 49 keeps two narrow uses for an unregistered one: a suit for specific performance, and a collateral purpose.

Even after registration, a release deed is not a title document on its own; ownership rests on the inheritance or purchase that first gave the releasee a share, together with the registered release.

How Is a Release Deed Executed and Registered?

Section 23 of the Registration Act allows four months from the day a release deed is signed to present it at the Sub-Registrar's office. For four months after that, the Registrar may still accept it against a fine of as much as ten times the registration fee (section 25). At registration, two witnesses confirm the identity of the person executing the deed.

When a family brings a release to WillJini, a lawyer first looks at the property and any other assets, identifies the legal heirs, reads any will, and draws up a step-by-step roadmap. That review shows whether the person receiving the share already owns part of the property. The team then confirms the heirs, gathers their declarations and coordinates the family, with embassy or e-signature support for members who live abroad.

WillJini drafts the release deed and any other documents the transfer needs, such as affidavits and powers of attorney, and liaises with the banks, the Sub-Registrar and other authorities. The work ends with the transfer, the title update and the property mutation.

What Should a Family Have Ready Before Registering a Release Deed?

You will need identity papers, proof of ownership, the papers that follow a death, and the stamp duty and fee. Delhi's and Haryana's published checklists for a release deed ask for:

• The people: identity proof for the releasor, the releasee and two witnesses, on both lists; Delhi's registration checklist asks for the original photo identity and two passport photographs.
• The property: proof of ownership, which Haryana's deed checklist accepts as a mutation, the municipal assessment, a certified copy of the earlier sale deed or the Fard of Jamabandi, with a map plan and a photograph showing the building or plot; Delhi asks for originals and one set of photocopies.
• The papers after a death: for Delhi, the original owner's death certificate and the family or legal heir details; for Haryana, the inheritance mutation (Mutation of Virasat), which identifies ancestral property.
• The payment: for Delhi, the stamp duty and the receipt for the registration fee, with an undertaking or affidavit; if money is paid for the share, also Form A, the title document, e-stamp paper, and PAN or Form 60 above Rs 5,00,000.

WillJini confirms the list with the family's Sub-Registrar.

Is a Release Deed the Same Thing as a Relinquishment Deed?

Relinquishment deed is another name for a release deed. The stamp schedules record the instrument as a release, and Delhi's deed registration checklist prints both names together, as "Relinquishment/Release Deed". Whichever name the deed carries, its stamp duty depends on the state and on who receives the share, and in Maharashtra also on whether anything is paid. If you are releasing to one sibling alone, read the 2025 Delhi ruling in the release and relinquishment deed comparison.

FAQs

What is a release deed in property matters?

A release deed is an instrument by which a co-owner, the releasor, gives up all or part of their share to another person who already owns part of the property, the releasee. If the receiver owns no part of the property, the deed is a gift or a sale.

Is registration of a release deed mandatory in India?

A release deed must be registered if it extinguishes a right in immovable property valued at Rs 100 or more (Registration Act, 1908, section 17(1)(b)). Until registration, section 49 says the deed does not affect the property and no court may receive it as evidence of the transaction, apart from a suit for specific performance or a collateral purpose.

Can a release deed be made without consideration?

A release deed can be made without consideration or for a payment, since the Supreme Court has held that renunciation may or may not be for consideration. In Maharashtra, though, Article 52(a)'s Rs 500 applies only to a release of ancestral property between listed relatives made without consideration in any form, and a paid release is charged conveyance duty under Article 25.

Can a release deed be cancelled once registered?

Only a civil court can cancel a registered release deed, in a suit to set it aside where there was fraud, coercion or misrepresentation, filed within three years of when the person suing first learned the facts entitling them to cancellation (Limitation Act, 1963, Article 59). Whoever signed the deed cannot revoke it alone, since signing extinguished their interest.

Is a release deed enough proof of ownership?

A release deed alone does not prove ownership. It only adds the releasor's share to the releasee's existing title, so ownership rests on the original inheritance or purchase, read together with the registered release. WillJini's inheritance assistance ends with the title update, including the property mutation.

What is the stamp duty on a release deed between blood relations?

The stamp duty on a release deed between blood relations depends on the state and on who counts as family there. In Maharashtra it is Rs 500 under Article 52(a) for ancestral property between listed relatives with nothing paid in any form; in Karnataka, Rs 5,000, Rs 3,000 or Rs 1,000 by area for listed relatives; and in Tamil Nadu, 1 per cent of the market value, up to Rs 40,000, among family members. Telangana charges a family registration fee of 0.5 per cent, between Rs 2,000 and Rs 25,000, and lists no stamp duty rate for a release on its published rate card.