Someone has died and the bank wants papers

What the law says

• A legal heir certificate says who the surviving family members are. You get it from the tehsildar or taluk office. For most purposes, such as pension, provident fund, or transferring a service connection, it is enough.
• A succession certificate is a court order. You need it for money the deceased person was owed: bank deposits, shares, debentures, and debts other people owed them. In practice, a bank that asks for a succession certificate will not accept a legal heir certificate instead.
• A nominee is not the owner. If your father named you nominee on his account, you only hold that money in trust for all the legal heirs. The bank will pay you, but the other heirs can still claim their share from you.
• Where there is no will, the law decides who inherits, not the family. For a Hindu man who dies without a will, his widow, his children and his mother inherit first. But the shares are fixed by statute and are not simply equal. For a Hindu woman the order is different. Other communities have their own rules, so check your own situation instead of assuming.
• A will overrides all of this. If the person left a valid will, what it says decides who gets what, and the heirs' shares do not apply.
• For Muslims, personal law works differently. A will (wasiyat) can cover only one-third of the estate without the heirs' consent, and the rules above do not apply in the same way. Get guidance before using the standard format.
• Making your own will is simpler than people think. Plain paper, your signature, and two witnesses who watch you sign and who inherit nothing under it. No stamp paper, no fixed format, no minimum wealth, and registration is optional.

What to do

1. 1

   First, find out which certificate they want

   Ask the bank or the office to tell you in writing. A legal heir certificate and a succession certificate are different documents from different places, and getting the wrong one costs you weeks.

2. 2

   For a legal heir certificate, go to the tehsildar

   Apply at the tehsildar or taluk office with the death certificate, proof of your relationship, and address proof of the family members. It usually takes 15 to 30 days, and the fee is small.

3. 3

   For a succession certificate, go to the civil court

   File a petition in the district court where the deceased person usually lived. Only if they had no fixed home does the court for the place where the property is come into it. The court publishes a notice, waits to hear objections, and then issues the certificate. Expect a few months, and a court fee that is a percentage of what you are claiming.

4. 4

   Check whether there was a will

   Check before you start either application. A valid will changes everything, and the executor named in it can act on it. Look in the bank locker, at the sub-registrar's office if it was registered, and with the family lawyer if there was one.

5. 5

   If you are writing your own will

   List what you own and say plainly who gets what. "My flat in Pune to my daughter" works in court. "My assets to my family" does not. Name someone to carry it out, and a guardian if your children are young. Then sign it in front of two witnesses who inherit nothing under it, and whose husband or wife inherits nothing either, because a gift to a witness or to their spouse is void. The will itself still stands. Only that gift falls.

Your rights

Common questions

• How to apply for a legal heir certificate
• Succession certificate — the procedure, cost and time

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