Overview
After a death, institutions speak certificate: banks want a succession certificate or nomination for accounts and deposits, share registrars want it for securities, employers and pension offices want legal heir certificates, and property mutation wants heirship proof. Families lose months applying for the wrong document in the wrong office. The map: legal heir certificate (tehsildar/corporation — fast, for pensions, dues and mutations), succession certificate (district court — for debts and securities where there's no will), probate/letters of administration (where there is a will, or for estates needing full administration). NRIs can run all of it through POA.
Key Provisions — Indian Succession Act, 1925
- Succession certificates (Sections 370–390) cover the deceased's debts and securities — bank balances, FDs, shares, bonds.
- The district court of the deceased's residence issues it after notice and (usually) newspaper publication; unopposed matters are routine.
- Legal heir certificates are administrative (revenue office) — faster, sufficient for pensions, salaries, and many mutations.
- Nominations let institutions pay the nominee, but heirs' ownership rights survive — nomination is a payment mechanism, not a will.
What You Can Get
How We Handle It
Asset & Heir Mapping
What the deceased held, who the heirs are, and which certificate each asset needs.
Application
Court petition or revenue application with the documentary chain complete.
Notice & Publication
Statutory notices; objections (if any) answered.
Certificate & Release
Certificate issued and taken institution to institution until assets are released.
Frequently Asked Questions
The bank says the nominee (my uncle) gets everything — is that true?
No. Nomination only tells the bank whom to pay; the money belongs to the legal heirs under succession law. Heirs can claim their shares from the nominee — and should put the bank on notice before it pays out.
We're four heirs but one brother won't cooperate with the application — stuck?
No. Any heir can apply; the others are noticed by the court. Non-cooperation slows things but doesn't block them — and a no-objection from the willing heirs speeds what remains.
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