Legal Question in Real Estate Law in India

I am extremely concerned about the following. My father who is deceased(Died in 2006) had two wives. The first marriage was in 1970 and 8 mths later his wife died of a brain tumor. Her family was aware of her illness but tricked my father into this marriage without disclosing it. In 1974 my father married again to my mother with who he had a loving and long marriage of 32 years during which they produced two daughters- my sister and I.

Both of his marriages were registered in Goa. Since Goa follows the portuguese civil code wrt property rights a wife automatically gets a 50% share in all of her husband's assets including ancestral property. Thus my father's first wife at the time she got married to him had a 50% share to his ancestral undivided land. The ancestral land is co-owned by six borthers in total including my father and still stands undivided today.

15 years ago the brothers began fighting for division of that property and my father and mother were the only persons who have represented their share in it all along in court. After my father's death my mother has single handedly fought the case on her and our behalf(by Goan law my father's 50% share came to my sister and I). The case is now close to a negotiation of which portion belongs to whom in a few weeks' time when suddenly out of the blue the first wife's brothers and sisters who are residents of Karnataka are making a claim that they are heirs to their sister's 50% share which she got when she was married to my father. My mother is in distress as she had spent her life savings in fighting for what she believed to be our rights for the past 15 years and now is shocked to find she might have to share her portion with these first wife's relatives.

Since the law in Goa is different from other states I would like your esteemed advice on this matter as to whether a prior wife's share of her husband's ancestral property reverts back to her husband since he was living at time of her death or to her maternal side of the family who are not even Goans in origin.

Also, what is the statute of limitations in Goa on heirs trying to claim their portion even if legitimate. My father married his first wife in 1970. The marriage lasted 8 months and she died on March 7th 1971. We have both her marriage and death certificates.

How can we prevent this from happening since these brothers and sisters of her have never shown their face or tried to fight for their rights before this. Now that my mother has resolved everything and case is almost to a close they are suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

Thank you.

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