Succession certificate — the procedure, cost and time

Most people arrive at this question the same way: they went to the bank with a legal heir certificate in hand, and were told it is not enough. That is not the bank being difficult. For money the deceased was owed, the document banks are entitled to insist on is a succession certificate — and it comes from a court, not from the taluk office.

Which document the bank will actually accept

A succession certificate is an order of a civil court under the Indian Succession Act, 1925. It certifies who is entitled to collect the debts and securities left behind, and it protects whoever pays out against being made to pay twice.

It covers:

• Bank balances and fixed deposits
• Shares, debentures and mutual fund units
• Provident fund and insurance money in some cases
• Any debt somebody owed the deceased

It does not cover immovable property. A house, a flat or land does not pass on a succession certificate — that goes through mutation at the revenue office, or through probate if there was a will. If someone has told you a succession certificate will transfer a property, they are wrong.

A legal heir certificate, by contrast, says who the surviving family are. It is the right document for pension, provident fund, gratuity and utility transfers, and it is far quicker and cheaper. If that is all you need, start there instead — see the companion guide at the end.

Which court

The petition goes to the district court where the deceased ordinarily lived. Only if they had no fixed place of residence does the court for the place where the property is come into it.

This matters practically: it is the deceased's district, not yours. If your father lived in Nagpur and you live in Bengaluru, the petition is filed in Nagpur.

What the petition has to establish

It is a petition under Section 372 of the Act, not a form you fill in. What it must set out:

• The death — when and where, with the death certificate
• Your relationship to the deceased, and on what basis you claim
• Every other heir, named — the court will want to know who else could claim, and concealing one is fatal to the petition
• Each debt and security you are claiming, itemised, with the amount or value of each
• Whether there was a will — and if there was, this is probably the wrong application entirely

The itemised list is the part people underestimate. You cannot ask the court for "whatever is in his accounts"; you need the bank, the account number and the balance, which usually means writing to each institution first to get a statement as at the date of death.

What happens after you file

The court checks the petition, then publishes a notice — typically in a newspaper — inviting anyone with a claim to object, and gives time for that to happen. If nobody objects, it grants the certificate on the evidence. If a relative does object, the matter becomes contested and is heard properly, with evidence on both sides.

That notice period is why this cannot be rushed. It exists to protect heirs who do not know the petition has been filed, and no court will skip it.

What it costs

The court fee is ad valorem — a percentage of the value of the debts and securities you are claiming, charged under the Court Fees Act, 1870 as amended by your own state. So the fee scales with the size of what you are collecting, and the percentage itself varies from state to state. Several states cap it at a maximum, so a very large estate does not attract an unlimited fee. Check your state's schedule rather than working from a figure someone quoted you for a different state.

It is paid in court-fee stamps. On top of that, budget for your lawyer, the newspaper publication, and certified copies.

How long it takes

Several months is normal — the filing, the notice, the objection window and the hearing each take their own time. If anyone contests it, it can run considerably longer. Plan on the money being out of reach for a good while, and tell the family that at the start rather than halfway through.

If there was a will

Then a succession certificate is usually not what you want. A will is given effect through probate, or through letters of administration where no executor was named. Different application, different procedure. Look for the will before you file anything — the bank locker, the sub-registrar's office if it was registered, and with the family lawyer if there was one.

Be honest with yourself about a lawyer

This is one of the places where doing it yourself is genuinely a false economy. It is a court petition with a valuation attached, a mandatory notice, and a real prospect of a relative objecting. The court fee alone has to be calculated correctly or the petition comes back. Most people should use a lawyer for this, and the fee is small against what is usually at stake.

What you can usefully do yourself is the preparation: get the death certificate, write to every bank and company for a statement as at the date of death, and draw up the full list of heirs. Walking into the first meeting with that done saves real time and money.

If a legal heir certificate would in fact be enough for what you are trying to do, read How to apply for a legal heir certificate first — it is 15 to 30 days at the taluk office instead of months in court.

Tell Miss Lucy Lite what the bank has asked for and what the deceased left behind, and she'll help you see which route you are actually on — while being straight with you that a court petition needs a lawyer.