Inheritance & Gift Transfer of a Plot — Succession, Hiba & the Society's Desk

Pakistan has no inheritance tax — the cost of inheriting a plot is paid in process, not percentage. And that process has two desks: the state’s (succession paperwork) and the society’s (getting the file re-issued in the heirs’ names). Every guide online covers the first with a DHA Lahore example; nobody documents the second for Bahria Enclave. Here is the full route, with honest flags where the society’s own rules need confirming in person.

Desk 1 — The succession certificate (now via NADRA)

Since the 2025 amendment to the succession law, heirs can obtain a succession certificate / letters of administration from NADRA in 15–30 days instead of the civil court’s six months to two years. Fee: Rs 20,000 (estates above Rs 1 Lac; Rs 10,000 below). You need the death certificate, the deceased’s CNIC cancellation certificate, the Family Registration Certificate, all heirs’ CNICs/NICOPs and an asset list; NADRA runs a 14-day public notice, and uncontested cases complete on paper. Contested ones still go to court — NADRA is a fast lane, not a referee.

Desk 2 — The society’s inheritance transfer (“wirasat intiqal”)

• Heirs present the succession certificate / court-attested warisnama at the society office; the plot’s file is re-issued as a new allotment in the heirs’ names — jointly, or split by shares.
• If heirs are settling shares among themselves (one keeps the plot, others take cash), a relinquishment deed executes that before the transfer — doing it informally now creates the dispute your grandchildren inherit.
• Honest flag: DHA Lahore famously insists on a court-attested warisnama and all heirs appearing (or giving POA). Whether Bahria Enclave’s desk accepts the NADRA certificate alone is not documented anywhere public — we confirm the current requirement at the office before your family travels or couriers documents.
• Do not market an inherited plot until the wirasat intiqal is complete in society records. A buyer’s verification (rightly) fails a plot still recorded in a deceased owner’s name.

Gifts (hiba) between relatives

Gifting a plot to a spouse, child or sibling is routine and legally clean when done properly: a written gift deed, acceptance, and the society’s gift-transfer processed at their counter. On tax: a genuine hiba has no sale consideration, and there is no gift tax between blood relatives as such — but whether the transfer counters apply §236C/236K withholding to no-consideration transfers is genuinely murky in the public record, and the answer can differ by desk. We get it confirmed in writing per case rather than promising an exemption a counter clerk may not honour. What is certain: the recipient’s eventual CGT clock and cost basis start from the transfer, so document the FBR value on the day — it becomes tomorrow’s capital-gains baseline.

The overseas heir’s route

• You do not need to fly back for the certificate. Biometrics for NADRA succession processing can run through Pakistani consulates (and NADRA’s Pak-ID app in supported cases); heirs abroad need valid NICOPs.
• The society-desk steps can run through a Special power of attorney held by a trusted local family member — MOFA-attested, exactly as our POA guide describes for purchases. Never a general irrevocable POA.
• The classic overseas-family failure: the plot sits untransferred for years because “someone will handle it on the next visit.” Meanwhile dues accumulate, a co-heir’s circumstances change, and the clean transfer becomes a negotiation. The paperwork costs weeks now or years later.