You have inherited a house. Here is what to do first

By Parish Rao · 23 August 2026 · 5 minute read

Losing a parent and inheriting their home brings paperwork nobody prepares you for. This is the calm, step by step version.

First, take a breath. Nothing about an inherited property is urgent in the first weeks. The property is not going anywhere, and no tax bill arrives just because you inherited it.

Three things that are true and reassuring

• Inheriting is not taxed. India has no inheritance tax. Tax only enters the picture if and when you sell.
• Missing papers are normal. A deed from 1974 that nobody can find is an everyday situation, not a crisis. There are official records that fill the gap.
• You do not have to decide anything quickly. Sell, keep, rent out, divide. All of that can wait until the family is ready.

The order that saves trouble

Step one. Get the papers you do have in one place. The death certificate, the will if there is one, any property papers, old property tax receipts. Do not worry about what is missing yet.

Step two. Transfer the property into the heirs' names. This is called mutation. A lawyer handles it. You generally cannot sell before this is done, so start it early even if you have no plans to sell.

Step three. Find out what it is actually worth. This matters even if you are not selling, and especially if more than one person inherited. Most family disagreements about property are really disagreements about a number nobody has checked.

Step four. If you might sell, find out when it was originally bought. This one fact decides your tax. If the person you inherited from bought it before April 2001, a special rule lets you use its 2001 value as your cost, which usually cuts the tax by a large amount. We explain it fully in our plain guide to the 2001 rule.

When several people inherit together

One report for the whole property, done by a valuer all of you choose together, prevents most arguments before they start. Each person's share is then just a percentage of one agreed number. It is much cheaper than two competing valuations, and far cheaper than a court case.

Where we fit in

We value inherited property every week, for sales, for family settlements and for courts. We know how to work with missing papers, and we can tell you in one phone call whether the 2001 rule applies to your family. Read about our inherited property valuation service, or message us on WhatsApp and tell us roughly when the property was bought.