Neglected parents can cancel gift deeds if children fail to care for them, rules Madras HC

CHENNAI: Safeguarding the interests of aged parents who wish to take back their assets gifted to their children if they fail in their duty to care for their parents, Madras high court has said they are entitled to cancel gift deeds if the children fail to maintain them, even in the absence of an explicit condition mentioned in the deed.
"Love and affection being the consideration would be sufficient to hold that such love and affection is an implied condition that the senior citizen will be taken care of by the beneficiary of the settlement deed," said a division bench of Justice S M Subramaniam and Justice K Rajasekar on Tuesday.
The judges also observed that gifting a property to their children through a settlement deed comes with a condition that the children must take care of the senior citizens during their old age. Such conditions need not be expressly mentioned in the deed.
The court passed the order while rejecting an appeal moved by S Mala, challenging a single judge's order allowing her mother-in-law to cancel the gift deed executed in favour of her son. According to the mother-in-law, she was 87 years old, and after the demise of her son S Kesavan, her daughter-in-law failed to take care of her. Therefore, she filed an application to cancel a gift deed executed in favour of her son. A single judge of the court allowed the plea and ordered the cancellation of the deed. Aggrieved, the petitioner moved the appeal.
When the plea came up for hearing, the bench said: "As per the orders of the Supreme Court and the high courts, it is clear that the conditions under Section 23(1) of the Senior Citizens Act need not be explicit, but might be implied." The love and affection being the consideration, which can be traced out in the settlement deed, would be sufficient to hold that such love and affection is an implied condition that the senior citizen will be taken care of by the beneficiary of the settlement deed or gift deed. In the event of neglecting the senior citizen, the deed of settlement or gift is liable to be annulled, the court said.
The court then confirmed the order of the single judge in cancelling the gift deed.