Someone has died and the bank won't release the money. Here's what you need.

What the law actually says

• A legal heir certificate says who the surviving family members are. You get it from the tehsildar or taluk office, and for most purposes — pension, provident fund, transferring a service connection — it is enough.
• A succession certificate is a court order. You need it for money the deceased 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 an 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 one, his widow, his children and his mother inherit first — but the shares are set 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 rather than assume.
• 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 below do not apply the same way. Get guidance before relying on the standard format.
• Making your own will is simpler than most 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 actually want

   Ask the bank or 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, you go to the civil court

   A petition is filed in the district court where the deceased usually lived. Only if they had no fixed home does the court for the place the property is in 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 first

   Look before you start either application. A valid will changes everything, and the executor named in it can act on it. Check the bank locker, 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" beats "my assets to my family" in court every time. 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, at a glance

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