New Delhi, March 11 -- Senior citizens increasingly find themselves in court, fighting to reclaim homes they once "gifted" to their children or daughters-in-law, while heirs insist that "a gift is forever".

Under the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, a gift is generally irrevocable unless it carries a valid, agreed contingency for revocation under Section 126. Recent Supreme Court rulings confirm that if a gift deed is absolute and doesn't include a revocation clause, the donor (the person gifting) cannot cancel it on their own. However, heirs often mistakenly assume that once a gift is registered, the parents have signed away their rights forever, which isn't the case.

Under Section 23 of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior...