This is general information only. Laws and procedures change and differ between courts, so nothing here is legal advice, and no outcome is implied.
Which area applies?
Choose the situation closest to yours. This only points to an area of practice and to the documents commonly asked for. It is not legal advice.
Search the resources
Official websites
Government and professional bodies that clients commonly need. These are external sites, and the firm has no connection with them.
- eCourts Services ↗Search case status, cause lists, and orders for district courts and High Courts across India.(opens in a new tab)
- Madras High Court ↗The High Court of Madras: notices, forms, cause lists, and information on its benches.(opens in a new tab)
- TNREGINET (Registration Department) ↗Tamil Nadu property registration, encumbrance certificates, certified copies, and guideline values.(opens in a new tab)
- Tamil Nadu land records (e-Services) ↗Land administration services of the Tamil Nadu government, including patta and chitta extracts.(opens in a new tab)
- National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) ↗Information on free legal aid and Lok Adalats for those who are eligible.(opens in a new tab)
- Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry ↗The State Bar Council on whose roll advocates practising in Tamil Nadu are enrolled.(opens in a new tab)
- Bar Council of India ↗The national regulator of the legal profession, including the Rules on professional conduct.(opens in a new tab)
Document checklists
Papers that are commonly asked for. Which of them apply depends on the matter, so bring what you have, even if it is incomplete.
For a first meeting, on any matter
- Photo identity and address proof
- A short written timeline of events, with dates
- Every notice, summons, order, or letter you have received
- Agreements and other documents connected with the matter
- Names, addresses, and contact details of the other parties
To verify the title of a property
- The sale deed and the earlier deeds in the chain of ownership
- An encumbrance certificate for the relevant period
- Patta, chitta, and other revenue records
- Property tax, electricity, and water charge receipts
- Approved plan and completion certificate, where they apply
- Any agreement of sale, and the seller identity documents
To register a sale deed
- The original title documents and the draft deed
- Identity and address proof of the buyer and the seller
- Recent passport-size photographs
- Proof of payment of stamp duty and registration fee
- The encumbrance certificate and the patta
- Details of the witnesses, where required
For a family matter, such as divorce, maintenance, or custody
- Marriage certificate and photographs, if available
- Identity and address proof of both spouses
- Birth certificates of the children
- Details of income, assets, and liabilities
- Any earlier petition, notice, or order
For a criminal matter
- A copy of the FIR or the complaint
- Any summons, notice, remand order, or bail order
- Identity proof and a list of important dates
- Documents or messages connected with the allegation
To prepare a will
- Identity and address proof
- A list of the properties and assets, with their documents
- Full names of the people who are to receive them
- The name of the person who is to carry out the will (the executor)
- Names of two witnesses
For a money or contract dispute
- The agreement, invoices, and purchase orders
- Statements, ledgers, and proof of payments made or received
- Emails, messages, and letters between the parties
- Any legal notice sent or received
How matters usually proceed
A general outline of the common stages. The order, the time taken, and the steps involved differ from case to case and from court to court.
A civil suit
- Legal notice, which is often sent first
- Plaint filed in the court
- Summons issued to the defendant
- Written statement filed by the defendant
- Issues framed by the court
- Evidence from both sides
- Final arguments
- Judgment and decree
- Execution of the decree, or an appeal
A criminal case
- Complaint or FIR
- Investigation by the police
- Arrest, remand, and bail, where they arise
- Final report (charge sheet) filed in court
- Court takes cognizance and frames the charges
- Trial, with evidence from both sides
- Judgment
- Appeal or revision, where available
A contested divorce
- Petition filed in the family court
- Notice to the other spouse
- Counselling or mediation, where the court orders it
- Reply and pleadings
- Evidence
- Arguments
- Judgment and decree
A divorce by mutual consent
- Joint petition filed
- First motion recorded by the court
- Waiting period, which a court may shorten in some cases
- Second motion
- Decree of divorce
A property registration
- Title checked
- Document drafted
- Stamp duty and registration fee paid
- Parties appear before the Sub-Registrar
- Document registered and endorsed
- Revenue records updated (patta or mutation)
Glossary of common terms
Plain-language meanings of terms that often appear in court papers and property documents.
- Affidavit
- A written statement that the person making it swears or affirms to be true, used as evidence.
- Anticipatory bail
- A direction that a person be released on bail if arrested, asked for before any arrest.
- Bail
- The temporary release of an accused person while the case is pending, usually on conditions.
- Charge sheet
- The police report filed in court at the end of an investigation (formally, the final report).
- Decree
- The formal order of a civil court that settles the rights of the parties in a suit.
- Encumbrance certificate
- A certificate listing the registered transactions affecting a property over a period, such as sales and mortgages.
- Execution
- The process of enforcing a court decree or order.
- FIR
- First Information Report: the police record of information about a serious (cognizable) offence.
- Injunction
- A court order that tells a party to do something or to refrain from doing something.
- Legal notice
- A formal written communication, often sent through an advocate, setting out a claim or demand.
- Limitation
- The time limit set by law within which a legal proceeding must be started.
- Maintenance
- Financial support that the law requires one person to pay to a spouse, child, or parent.
- Mediation
- A voluntary, confidential process in which a neutral person helps the parties reach a settlement.
- Mutation
- The updating of land or municipal records to show the new owner after a transfer.
- Partition
- The division of jointly owned property among its co-owners.
- Patta
- A revenue record in Tamil Nadu that shows who holds a piece of land.
- Plaint
- The written document in which the plaintiff sets out the claim and starts a civil suit.
- Power of attorney
- A document by which one person authorises another to act for them in stated matters.
- Probate
- A court order certifying that a will is genuine and authorising its executor to administer the estate.
- Quashing petition
- An application to a High Court to set aside a complaint, FIR, or criminal proceeding.
- Sale deed
- The document that records the transfer of ownership of immovable property from a seller to a buyer.
- Vakalatnama
- The document by which a party authorises an advocate to appear and act for them in a court.
- Will
- A document stating how a person wishes their property to be shared after death. It takes effect on death.
- Written statement
- The defendant reply to a plaint, setting out their defence in a civil suit.