Declaratory Decree

Your uncle’s family tells the society that you are not the legal heir to your late father’s flat. They have not taken it, they have not sold it. They only deny that it is yours. You are not being evicted and no money is owed. What exactly can you ask a court for? Only a statement that you are the heir. That statement, a declaratory decree, is what s.34 gives, and it is often the first step to everything else.

In two minutes

Under s.34 of the Specific Relief Act 1963 any person entitled to a legal character or to a right as to property may sue a person who denies or is interested to deny it, and the court may in its discretion declare that he is so entitled, without any further relief being asked; the proviso bars the declaration if the plaintiff, able to seek further relief, omits to do so.

The rest of this chapter

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