Punjab counsel for families in America.

The US and India are both parties to the Hague Apostille Convention, so the usual route is signature before a notary public in your state, followed by an apostille from that state's Secretary of State. No attestation by an Indian Consulate is then required. Once the document reaches India it must be adjudicated and stamped within three months of receipt under Section 18 of the Indian Stamp Act, which we handle at this end.

Yes. FEMA bars a non-resident Indian or OCI cardholder from purchasing agricultural land, plantation property or a farmhouse, but expressly permits acquiring such property by inheritance. Residential and commercial property may be both inherited and purchased. Citizenship does not extinguish an inherited share; delay and unchallenged possession are what erode it.

Two stages. In India, the buyer withholds tax under Section 195 — on the whole sale consideration unless you have obtained a certificate in Form 13 limiting it to the actual capital gain, which is usually worth doing. Then remittance from your NRO account, subject to the one million US dollar per financial year limit, on Form 15CA with a chartered accountant's Form 15CB. Credit for Indian tax against your US liability is a matter for the treaty and your US accountant, and we coordinate with them.

It does, because we schedule around it rather than expecting you to. India is nine and a half hours ahead of New York and twelve and a half ahead of California, so an early evening call on the West Coast reaches us mid-morning. Substantive updates come in writing so nothing depends on a live call.

Yes, and on estate and tax matters it is usually the right way to run it. We act as Indian counsel and deal directly with your US advisers on the Indian side of the matter, rather than leaving you to carry information between them.