Someone died: succession certificate and legal-heir certificate

What has probably happened

Someone in your family has died, and you are trying to close their accounts, claim their deposits, transfer their shares, or get a family pension. The bank, the employer, the company or the pension office has asked you for a legal-heir certificate or a succession certificate — and nobody has explained the difference.

They are two different documents, from two different offices, for two different jobs.

• A legal-heir certificate names the people who are the heirs of the person who died. It is issued by the state's revenue authority — usually the Tahsildar or the taluk or tehsil office — after an enquiry into the family. There is no single national law for it: each state sets its own procedure.
• A succession certificate is granted by a civil court under Part X of the Indian Succession Act, 1925. It names the specific debts (money owed to the person who died, such as a bank deposit) and securities (such as shares, debentures and government securities) it covers, and lets the holder collect them (Sections 370 and 374).

The succession certificate has legal force that the other does not. A person or company that pays the holder in good faith is fully protected (Section 381). And a court will not order a debtor of the deceased person to pay an heir unless the heir produces a succession certificate (or probate or letters of administration) covering that debt (Section 214). That is why banks and companies ask for it for larger amounts.

Who the heirs are

Who inherits depends on whether there is a will, and on the deceased person's religion.

• If there is a will, it decides who gets the property it covers. The route to collect may then be different; see an advocate.
• Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains without a will follow the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. For a man, the property goes first to the heirs in Class I of the Act's Schedule (Section 8); Section 10 shows these include his widow, sons, daughters and mother. For a woman, it goes first to her sons, daughters and husband (Section 15).
• Muslims follow Muslim personal law, which has its own rules on heirs and shares.
• Others, including Christians, follow the rules on intestate succession in Part V of the Indian Succession Act (Section 29), with a separate chapter for Parsis.

What to do, step by step

Step 1 — Get the death certificate, several copies. Every institution will ask for one.

Step 2 — Look for a will. Check papers at home, the bank locker, and ask the family's advocate or the Sub-Registrar's office if the person said they registered one. If there is a will, show it to an advocate before going further.

Step 3 — List what the person owned and owed. Bank accounts and fixed deposits, shares and mutual funds, provident fund, gratuity and pension, insurance, money others owe them, a house or land, a vehicle, and any loans.

Step 4 — Ask each institution, in writing, what it needs. Ask the bank, the company, the employer or the pension office exactly which document it requires from the heirs. Keep their reply. Do not apply for a court certificate if a revenue certificate is enough, and do not spend months on a revenue certificate if the institution will only accept a court one.

Step 5a — For a legal-heir certificate. Apply to the Tahsildar or revenue office of the area where the person lived, with the death certificate and proof of your relationship. The officer verifies the family, often with a local enquiry, and issues the certificate naming the heirs. The forms, fees and documents differ by state. The legal-heir certificate guide has the details.

Step 5b — For a succession certificate. A petition is filed before the District Judge of the area where the deceased person ordinarily lived at death; if they had no fixed residence, where any of their property is found (Section 371). The petition must state the time of death, the residence, the family and near relatives and where they live, the right in which you claim, that there is no legal bar to the grant, and the debts and securities you want the certificate for (Section 372). A deposit equal to the court fee is paid with it (Section 379). The court fixes a hearing, has notice served on anyone who should be told and posted at the court-house, and then decides the right to the certificate in a summary way (Section 373). The succession certificate guide has the details.

Section 372 makes a false statement in the petition an offence. List every heir honestly, even ones you are not on good terms with.

Timeline and costs

What	Who decides	Cost
Death certificate	The office where the death was registered	Set locally
Legal-heir certificate	Tahsildar or revenue officer, under state rules	Set by your state; the advocate's fee if you use one, quoted first
Succession certificate	District Judge, or a lower civil court the state has empowered (Section 388)	Court fee set by your state's law, depending on the value of the debts and securities; the advocate's fee, quoted first

There is no fixed time limit in the Act for the court to decide. How long it takes depends on the court and on whether anyone objects.

Documents to keep handy

• Death certificate (several copies).
• Proof of each heir's relationship to the deceased.
• Identity and address proof of each heir.
• The deceased person's last address proof.
• Details of each account, deposit, share holding or other claim: statements, passbooks, certificates, folio numbers.
• The will, if there is one.
• Written replies from each institution saying what it needs.

Mistakes that sink people

• Applying for the wrong certificate. Ask first, in writing.
• Leaving an heir out of the application. It can get the certificate revoked later (Section 383 allows revocation where it was obtained by concealing something material) and is an offence in a succession petition.
• Missing a debt or security from the petition. The certificate covers only what is listed in it. The District Judge can extend it later to a debt or security left out (Section 376), but it is simpler to list everything at the start.
• Ignoring a will that turns up later.
• Fighting about shares inside the certificate case. The court decides the right to the certificate in a summary way; its decision does not settle the question of ownership between family members for good (Section 387).

If the family disagrees

If heirs dispute who should get the certificate, or the shares, the court may still grant it to the person who appears to have the best title, often on a bond (Sections 373 and 375). An advocate can tell you where you stand. If you would rather talk it through first, a 30-minute call starts at ₹999.