HUF Deed Format: What Yours Must Contain
An HUF deed is a signed declaration by the Karta. It should state the HUF's name and address, who the Karta is, every coparcener and member with their relation, the starting money and where it came from, the Karta's powers, how the bank account runs, and carry signatures and witnesses. No single format is fixed by law.
- The deed does not create the HUF. The family already is one. The deed puts it on record for the bank and the tax department.
- The clause that decides your tax is the one on the corpus and its source.
- Daughters are coparceners, married or not. Leaving them out is the most common drafting error.
- Stamp paper value is set by each state. There is no all-India figure.
- From 1 April 2026 the HUF's PAN is applied for in Form 94, not Form 49A.
In this guide
Is there an official format?
No. No Act prescribes an HUF deed. A Hindu Undivided Family arises from family status, and the deed is evidence of facts: who the family is, who manages it and what it owns. That is why two correct deeds can look different. What matters is that yours covers the clauses below and that every fact in it is true. If you are still deciding whether an HUF is worth having, read what is an HUF first.
The clauses your deed should carry
| Clause | What it should say | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Name and address of the HUF | Usually the Karta's name followed by "HUF", with the family's address | The PAN, the bank account and every later document copy this spelling |
| Karta | Full name, father's name, age, address and PAN of the manager | The Karta signs for the HUF and represents it before the tax department |
| Coparceners and members | Each person's name, relation to the Karta and age. Coparceners are those born into the family, sons and daughters. Members join by marriage, such as the wife | The PAN application needs the list of coparceners, and the list decides who has a share |
| Corpus and its source | The amount or property the HUF starts with, and where each part came from: ancestral property, a will, or a gift, with the giver named | The source decides who pays tax on the income later |
| Powers of the Karta | To manage, invest, buy and sell, borrow for the family's needs, and sign documents for the HUF | Banks and buyers want to see that the Karta can act alone |
| Bank operation | That accounts will be in the HUF's name, operated by the Karta, with HUF money kept apart from personal money | It is the clause a bank reads first |
| Declaration and signatures | A statement that the facts are true, the date and place, and the signatures of the Karta and the adult members | An undated or half-signed deed is the usual reason a bank sends it back |
| Witnesses | Two witnesses with name, address and signature | Supports the deed if it is ever questioned |
Some families add who becomes Karta next. That is useful, because an account frozen after the Karta's death is hard on everyone.
How two clauses can read
These are short illustrations in plain words, written for this article. They are not a template, and a deed needs every clause above fitted to your family's facts.
Declaration of the family. I, Ramesh Gupta, son of Suresh Gupta, living at the address given above, declare that my family is a Hindu Undivided Family known as "Ramesh Gupta HUF". I am its Karta. The persons named in Schedule A are its coparceners and members on the date of this deed.
Bank accounts. All money of the HUF will be kept in accounts opened in the name of the HUF. The Karta alone will operate these accounts. HUF money will not be mixed with the personal money of the Karta or of any member.
Notice what the wording does. It states facts, names people and avoids legal ornament. A bank officer should be able to follow it in one reading.
Stamp paper and notary
Is stamp paper compulsory? Stamp duty is a state tax on documents, and each state's stamp law sets the value for a declaration of this kind. We could not confirm one figure that holds everywhere, so we give none. Ask a local stamp vendor or check your state's stamp schedule.
And the notary? No rule we could find makes notarisation of the deed compulsory. It is common practice, and banks expect it. The Karta's affidavit that goes with the PAN application is a separate paper, and the reported requirement is that it be sworn before a notary or oath commissioner.
What do the PAN application and the bank look for?
- PAN. Since 1 April 2026, Indian applicants other than individuals apply in Form 94. For an HUF, the supporting paper reported is an affidavit by the Karta giving the name, father's name and address of every coparcener on the date of application, with the Karta's own identity and address proof. The form also asks for an office address, a mobile number and the details of the person representing the HUF.
- Bank. Practice differs by bank. Most ask for the deed, the HUF's PAN, the Karta's KYC papers and a declaration signed by the adult coparceners.
So the names in the deed, the affidavit and the bank form must match letter for letter. The full sequence is in our guide on how to create an HUF.
A worked example: what the corpus clause is worth
The Mehta HUF starts with Rs 3,60,000. A vague deed says only "corpus of Rs 3,60,000". A careful deed breaks it up:
- Rs 2,00,000 from the sale of ancestral land. Family property by origin. Income from it is the HUF's.
- Rs 1,00,000 from the Karta's savings. Allowed, but the income is clubbed, which means it is added to the Karta's own income. At 7% that is Rs 7,000 a year taxed in his hands.
- Rs 60,000 gifted by the Karta's uncle. The uncle is not a member of this HUF. Gifts from non-members above Rs 50,000 in a year are taxable in full, so the whole Rs 60,000 counts as the HUF's income that year. At Rs 50,000 or less, none of it would.
The vague deed hides all three answers. If the tax department asks five years later, the family has to prove the sources from old bank statements. The careful deed cost one extra paragraph.
The mistakes people usually make
- Leaving out daughters. A daughter is a coparcener by birth and stays one after marriage.
- Calling the wife a coparcener. She is a member. Getting the labels wrong makes the PAN affidavit and the deed disagree.
- Describing personal savings as ancestral. A false source does not shift the tax, and it weakens the whole document.
- Copying a stamp value from another state. An under-stamped deed can be questioned when you rely on it.
- Spelling the name three ways. "Ramesh Gupta HUF", "R. Gupta HUF" and "Ramesh Gupta (HUF)" are three names to a bank's system.
- Downloading a template and filling the blanks. Templates rarely have a source-of-corpus clause, which is the one you need most.
What to do next: write the family list with relations and dates of birth, and list each rupee of the starting corpus with its source. With those two lists, the drafting is quick.
Sources
- Income Tax Department: returns and forms applicable to an HUF, AY 2026-27 (checked 12 Nov 2026)
- Protean (PAN service provider): changes to PAN application forms from 1 April 2026 (checked 12 Nov 2026)
How AprilTax can help
A Tax Expert at AprilTax drafts your HUF deed for Rs 1,499. You fill in one online form with the HUF name, the Karta's name and PAN, the family members with their relation to the Karta, and the HUF address. The fee is for drafting the deed. Stamp paper, the PAN application and the bank account are separate. Start at HUF deed drafting.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a format for an HUF deed prescribed by law?
Is an HUF deed compulsory?
What stamp paper value is needed for an HUF deed?
Does an HUF deed have to be notarised or registered?
Who signs the HUF deed?
Should daughters be named in the HUF deed?
Why should the deed state the source of the corpus?
Which form is used for an HUF's PAN in 2026?
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