Claiming Assets after Death ? Here are 4 Important documents you need to know about !

POSTED BY Jagoinvestor ON October 21, 2013 COMMENTS (71)

Are you sure that when you inherit your parents assets or any other bank accounts later in life, its going to be a smooth process? Will it be hassle free and without any complexities? Are you sure you will not get dragged into life long legal battles with siblings or any other relatives who will fight for the same assets and properties ? Have your parents taken care of all the succession planning like nominating you for those assets and writing a WILL and registering it with help of a lawyer ?

Important Documents to Claim assets

On an average, almost all the families are very weak in their estate planning. They are so much engrossed into their “current” life, that they are not bothered about future much. Its their children and legal heirs who have to suffer later, due to their laziness or ignorance about these matters. In this article I want to highlight few important documents and processes which you should be aware about, so that when the time comes – you are familiar with them.

After the death of the owner of assets ?

After the death of asset holder, after few weeks/months – its time to claim their assets and properties. That time, there are lots of paperwork and procedure to be followed. You have to claim their

  • Fixed deposits
  • Saving bank accounts
  • Bank lockers
  • PPF (Public Provided Funds)
  • EPF (Employee Provided fund)
  • Post Office Deposits
  • Mutual Funds
  • Stocks and Shares
  • Life Insurance Policies
  • NSC
  • Real Estate Property
  • Bonds (If any)

Can you see how long is the List ?

You will have to run around to claim all of these one by one and might also have to do few rounds because of the process and procedures to be followed. Now this verification and processes is very critical for the banks, mutual funds houses, or companies to make sure that the asset is passed to the right hand, who ever is entitled to get it legally and not just anyone making the claim.

Just saying that “I was his Brother” or “I was his wife” will not help much because its not so straight forward process, especially if things dont match on nomination or the WILL. And if the nomination is blank or not on the right person name (who is wanting to file a claim) or worst if WILL is not written at all, then its the start of that frustrating phase, which is about to come. In your world, you might be very clear, who are legal heirs and who deserves the assets, but that’s not the point here. You need proof and all the legal documents and process in place to claim the assets.

So there will be documents asked, forms to be filled and rounds to be made to court to obtain some documents – even if it means frustration and disappointment for the family member of deceased. So you can now get a sense of how important is succession planning, and if one is careful and responsible enough, they will at least do basic things in place like  putting nominations in place and writing and registering a WILL in a standard manner with help from a lawyer.

Some mistakes which most of the investors make 

Let me first list down few mistakes or incomplete things done by investors which create the problems in future. These mistakes happen due to sheer ignorance or because of casual attitude of investors. You or your parents might be doing these following mistakes.

  • They do not mention anyone in Nomination when they open a bank account, open a fixed deposit etc
  • Once they put a nominee, they do not bother to change it ever, even if nominee has died or is now not on their preferred list
  • They do not keep receipts or save important documents
  • They do not write a WILL
  • They write a WILL, but do not register it
  • They write and register a WILL, but do not inform anyone in family
  • They do not consult a lawyer while write a WILL and make mistakes in it
  • They do not do proper paperwork when they execute a buy/sale transaction (Here is a real life experience)
  • They rely too much on words of others and have feel “legal battles” happen only in movies

Can you relate to any of these above ?

Are you doing something similar in your financial life. It answer is “YES”, your family or you yourself might face lot of issues in future as explained above. You seem to be too much busy in earning money or just making investment – without realising that one day it might not even go to someone important in your family or reach very later after a lot of work to be done.

4 Important Documents required to Claim an Asset after death

Lets finally come to the main point and now I will just explain to you some documents which generally come into picture at the time of claiming assets. Here they are –

Documents required to claim assets after death in India
1. Death Certificate

The first thing in the list is Death Certificate. Its one of those documents which will surely be required no matter what. Death certificate is a document which officially certifies that a person is dead . Death certificate also records the date and time of death, which can be a crucial information for things like life insurance claim.

Anyways, as per Registration of Births & Deaths Act, 1969, its mandatory to register death within 21 days of its occurrence and if you are late, then again you will have to do more paperwork and pay some charges. Death Certificate is issued by Municipal Corporation (Urban areas) or Gram Panchayat (in case of rural areas) after proper verification is completed by them.

Death certificate is required by all the institutions (Banks/Fund Houses/Insurance Companies) irrespective of presence of WILL or nominations. So make sure you take death certificate immediately after the demise of the concerned person. Depending on the nature of death, the process of obtaining death certificate changes. If its death at home due to some illness or high age, there not much is required, but if its a death by accident or murder etc, a copy of FIR might also be required.

So make sure you get this document after the death, it might take some good amount of time and running around , so start the process sooner you can.

TIP – You can find state wise procedure and which department to contact on this website. Visit the website and you will see a dropdown at the end of the page.

2. Claim Application Form

Claim form is the form which needs to be filled by you at the time of making the claim. Depending on the asset type, the organisation will provide you. Each bank has its own claim application form, Post Office has its own and mutual funds companies have their own forms. You have to fill in details like – relationship with the deceased and your identity details along with proofs and more.

You also have to give your bank details or other KYC details if the assets has to be transferred to your account like in case of shares in demat account or mutual funds portfolio. Just to give you a feeling of how it looks like  below is a sample claim application form for saving bank account from SBI Bank.

3. Probate of WILL 

One of the most common problems in India is unregistered WILL. Lots of people write a WILL without consulting a lawyer, and do not feel the need to register it. Just because its not registered in the registrar’s office, its bound to raise questions on its authenticity. Lots of times in families, someone claims that there was a WILL written in their favour and then the other parties challenge it saying that its fake. Sometimes two parties come up with their own version of WILL claiming that the other one is fake!.

This all happens because the WILL was not registered. In which case, a “Probate of WILL” is required from Court.

Probate is a way to certify that the WILL is authentic. So if you have to claim an asset and the WILL you have raises questions, you might be asked to get Probate from court to prove that the WILL is authentic.In that case you will have to reach to court, catch a lawyer and apply for Probate. There will be fees to be paid and lots of time might go in this process. Probate will have court seal on it and also the WILL copy will be attached to it.

Below is one comment which I had got long back on a issue which involved fake WILL. You might be able to see the role of Probate here.

My father in law has died without WILL, he left wife, 2 sons and 1 daughter. Both son prepared ZABARDASTI WILL of my mother in law , stating that both sons will get 40 % each & sister will get 20%. This flat is owned by father in law. Can widow’s (mother in laws) WILL will be considered after her death ? Now daughter wants equal share in her fathers property. Is this property is earned or ancestral for mother in law, can daughter give challenge for equal share after her mothers death, or this REGISTERED WILL prepared by mothers will be considered by cour ? plz advice in brief

You can see that the above WILL can be challenged and in that case, a Probate would be asked for to prove that the WILL is authentic or not.

4. Succession Certificate

Succession Certificate comes into picture when there is no written WILL, absense of nomination, or when your name is not on nominee list, but you want to claim the asset because you are legal heir (you know about it, but there is no legal document saying that). At that time, you will have to bring succession certificate from court, which is a proof that you are a valid legal heir. Note that just saying that you are legal heir and bringing some relationship proof will not work here, you have to actually follow the process and get succession certificate to prove that you are a legal heir as per the succession laws.

Once you get succession certificate,  you will be then seen as a valid legal heir and then the assets will be transferred in your name. At times when there is no nomination in place or more than one person comes into picture claiming for assets, then also succession certificate is demanded and the assets are passed on as per that document. Note that only one succession certificate per asset is issued and if there are more than on person claiming the assets, their names will be mentioned in that succession certificate, so its better to support each other and not fight with each other, otherwise situation will get tougher for you.

To get succession certificate, you can reach to district or high court of the jurisdiction, under which the assets fall (bank or property location) . You have to take help of a lawyer and file a petition for obtaining succession certificate and give details like your relationship with the deceased, you date of birth, your other details asked.

Then court will put a notice in newspapers inviting any objections for next few weeks, and if there are no objection, then you are granted the succession certificate. This can take time, money and some rounds to court along with anxiety especially when there is someone else who claims to be the legal heir and you do not have good terms with the other party 🙂 .

So this was all for now.

References –  http://www.bemoneyaware.com/blog/paperwork_documents/

Conclusions

The more work you do on your succession planning part. The lower will be the headache and frustration for your family members later when you leave this world as a surprise. The minimum you can do is fix your nominations for all the assets like bank accounts, life insurance policies, mutual funds, demat account, PPF / EPF and real estate etc. Sir, it takes 1 day! of your life or some hours only. Apart from that, you should write a WILL and get it registered too with help of a good lawyer, spend on it 🙂 .

71 replies on this article “Claiming Assets after Death ? Here are 4 Important documents you need to know about !”

  1. Arun says:

    Arun
    My Father expired 11 Nov 2015. He has a flat in Pune on his name. My 2nd brother is staying in that house from past 7 years. My Father made a will saying the propety will be divided equally between three brothers and my mother after his death. But my brother is not vacating the house or dividing the property. My Fathers Will papers and the flat document is with my brother. I dont have the copy of any document or with my third brother.
    Please let me know how to proceed.

    1. Even if the WILL is not there, the property will be divided amongst 4 equally anyways. Now it has to be dealt legally. What else can you do anyways other than filing a case !

  2. Gautam Jain says:

    We are resident of Kolkata. My father was died two years ago. In our family we don’t have any issue regarding property and me, my uncle and my sisters are ready to transfer all my father’s account, property, assets to my mother. We want to do it fast in a week as I have to leave for abroad. Before that I want to transfer all my father assets, property, demat accout, bank account etc. to my mother. Is thier any Tatkal option available in court for Succession Certificate.

    1. Sorry but I am not qualified to answer this !

  3. raheem says:

    My father died 1 yr back. all left property is on my mother name now and she is not willing to give me a single penny. i want my right. how long will it take, will i succeed in getting my right?

    1. You have a right ful claim .. but if she is not giving it to you, then you need to now approach the lawyer and court !

  4. Tanuja Trivedi says:

    My best friend made a will in my favour, leaving all her movable and immovable properties to me. She died recently. How do I make a claim? She was unmarried from Goa. I’m afraid her parents and brother will hound me. Please help.

    1. If the WILL is written , then it should not be an issue. However if its not registered, you will have tough time to prove that its not a fake one, provided there is a case registered by other people in her family. I suggest meeting with a good lawyer in this case

  5. Musthafa.S says:

    Hello Good evening , I am Musthafa. On Oct 6 my dad passed away. I got death certificate from local municipality office. Now in process of heir certificate. Problem is my dad had all his property in his name and my paternal grandmother is still alive. She is living separately with her daughter (my aunt). She is getting pension of my grandfather (army man passed away). Is that mandatory for me to add her name in legal heir certificate.?. Now we have 3 in family my mother, my elder brother and myself. Thank you. Please clarify me.

    1. She is a LEGAL HEIR. There is no option to include or not include !

  6. Lakshmi says:

    Hi Manish ,

    Very nice to see your blog. It’s very unfortunate that I could not find my kind of case anywhere.

    My husband just 30 yrs old expired and I have two little girl babies. But LIC nominee is my father in law. I am earning some income as of now from private company. How can I help myself and my kids in this situation. Please guide me.

    1. First you need to claim that LIC amount money as you and kids are the legal heirs not the father . Hence meet a lawyer for this if needed

  7. kham buha says:

    what is the name of the document i need from the bank to show that my name is actually in their system as the beneficiary and heir to my uncles assets..? I need a proof that my name is really in their data base …so what is the name of the document i will demand from them to show this….?

    1. Talk to bank, they will only share it with you

  8. Nikhil says:

    I had hired a lawyer to obtain succession certificate around 1 and a half years back. He took full payment and the original papers. Later I found out that he submitted the application only around 8 months back. Now finally the case has been disposed. But the lawyer is demanding more money to hand over the succession certificate and the original documents to us. What should I do? Is there any way to obtain the certificate directly from the courts office?

    1. He cant do that.. how can he ask more money without informing you earliar that more money will be paid. File a case against him itself !

  9. Santhosh says:

    My father has expired in April 2011. he was having a demat account.i was submitted an application to the company to transfer all securities in demat of my father to my mother demat account.but they said ,there is no nominee .
    as of our knowledge my mother is the nominee.
    Is it possible to get the demat account opening form copy which contains nominee registration form filled by my father at the time of opening of demat account.
    Please help me..

    1. I am not sure on that. You might want to enquire about this with org

  10. Suri says:

    What happens to a bank locker account, when both the account holder and nominee are no more? Do the legal heirs of.nominee have any say in this case?

    1. Like everything else, nominee will be able to claim it

  11. r says:

    HI Manish,

    I lost my father on 22nd May 2016 and unfortunately my mother too on 6th July 2016. My father had mentioned about a will been prepared by him, but we don’t know where it is. So currently we are assuming there is no will .

    We are 2 brothers and 2 sisters. We have the following assets

    1) A home in my fathers name
    2) A commercial property is my mothers name
    3) Another commercial property in my fathers name, but it is on lease
    4) Fixed deposits / bank accounts / NSC
    5) Insurance claims

    1) Is the legal heir certificate and the Sucessor certificate the same. Is it mandatory to prepare the same in order to transfer the above assets in our names.

    2) In case of Insurance claim, how will the payment be done by the company. Do we need to give one account & name as beneficiary or names and accounts of all.

    1. Jagoinvestor Admin says:

      Hi r

      Your cases is a bit complex and I think we are not the right people to comment on it.

      My suggestion would be hire someone who is professional in this area and consult them

      Manish

  12. Kulveer says:

    My father has expired in 2015 and he was having a saving account in SBI. We are 2 brothers and 1 sister and wants that equal amount should be distributed among all by bank, But bank has a provision to give one cheque only in single name. But we want the cheues on all three names separately. Can bank do it or we have to go to court.

    1. Bank can do that . They have to handover the money to someone. Take the money in one account and then give it to others.. There wont be any income tax issues here

  13. akshada says:

    my father in law expired due to heart attack as we enough property in ourvillage even after 7 month our name us not transfered on his property and how long this procedure take place

    1. Hi akshada

      Your cases is a bit complex and I think we are not the right people to comment on it.

      My suggestion would be hire someone who is professional in this area and consult them

      Manish

  14. madhur says:

    My father died and as the only legal heir I got the property mutated in my name. But now as I do not have any deed in my name can I avail a housing loan on the property.

    1. You should consult with a lawyer on this matter !

  15. DeepenPParik says:

    I am one of the joint Nominee and joint beneficiary of a property in cooperative housing society. That is what Management Committee informs me when i ask. However they are not giving me copy of Nomination Form or Will deposited to the Society. How to get it from Society ? Other joint Nominees and beneficiaries not in good terms.

    1. Hi DeepenPParik

      Your cases is a bit complex and I think we are not the right people to comment on it.

      My suggestion would be hire someone who is professional in this area and consult them

      Manish

  16. satishkashyap says:

    Sir, my father was passed away on September 2015, my father was purchased a property on bank loan, the above said loan amount had been paid before the loan tenure, my father has taken a home loan & Personal Accidental policy from the the insurance company . Now the insurance company need a succession certificate to give the claim amount to us. For making the succession certificate is there amount has to be deposited to the court.
    Sir need urgent reply..

    1. Yes, for succession certificate there is some fee to be paid to court . COntact a lawyer on this

  17. Amit says:

    Hi,

    We have a registered will from parent in the name of eldest child, and there are total 3 children. All 3 children are in good terms and have also created affidavits to give authority to eldest child to get the money.

    The deposits are made in Post Office, and the Head there is not releasing money giving one excuse after other. What’s the process to be followed to get the money?

    Regards
    Amit

    1. Hi Amit

      Your cases is a bit complex and I think we are not the right people to comment on it.

      My suggestion would be hire someone who is professional in this area and consult them

      Manish

  18. Sandeep says:

    Sir
    We are three son for my parents. A few month my mom passed away. She was one only who own our house after my father death. What is the procedure to change documents in to our name?

    1. Sandeep

      You should involve a property lawyer in this

  19. manish sir says:

    and one more thing dadaji is having capital gains account when i claim for it i have to open capital gains account or i can keep money in saving account.

    1. You need to keep in capital gains account only !

  20. manish sir says:

    will is registered in collector offfice

  21. nitin shinde says:

    my dadaji has done a registered will. and in will its mentioned that all funds in bank goes to the nominne and at same he has also open a capital gains account and in capital gains account he has nominated me so how do i can claim for it and after claim should i have to keep the funds in capital gains account or in saving account plz clear me that.

    1. Nitin

      You first need to make sure you go bank manager and ask him for the procedure to transfer money in your account as per WILL . He will guide you

      1. manish sir says:

        bank manager is asking me for probrate cerificate

        1. Yes, they will ask for it if there is no written valid WILL

  22. Ramachandran says:

    Hi Manish,

    I was recently introduced to this site.
    I have few questions regarding “Unregistered Will” and Probate.

    1. In case of an unregistered Will, with the property in question being in Chennai, How does one go about probating the same? There seems to be varied opinions around where in some say, since the property is in Chennai, it does not require a Probate. Wheras some state, that probate can still be done even if it is in Chennai.

    2. How long does probate take?

    3. It is better to go for a Probate, or go for the registration of the will (since as per Indian Registration act, a will can be registered even after the death of the person who has written the will). In such a scenario, will it suffice if the registration of the will is done by the executor alone? Or does it require the affidavits of the witnesses to be signed? if affidavits are required, is it required to be signed in the presence of the registrar?

    3. Or is it advisable that a relinquishment deed is registered by the Legal heirs of the property to the executors name? (The executor is not the legal heir, but legal heirs have provided an affidavit mentioning that they have no objection is the property going to the executor). If relinquishment deed is advisable, should each legal heir get the same registered in a single place (place of the property)?

    Thanks and Regards
    Ramachandran

    1. These are a bit higher level questions and a professional lawyer should be consulted for this .

  23. gaurav says:

    Hello Manish sir,

    i have one question. I m from ahmedabad.our flat is on my mother name. Me and my elder sister are only two children of her and my father is no more. In our society my name is listed as nominee. Should we prepare a will and get registered. If we don’t then will i face any problem in future.

    1. Yes, a WILL would be a good idea for sure, else you will get into legal tangle later !

      Manish

  24. astrosunil says:

    Thanks for the insightful article, My dad has a plot & house in his name. As I am the only son, is it necessary to transfer the same assets to my name ? This will be a good step to declare assets while applying for home loan etc right ? Will the assets automatically to son’s name after father dies in case of only son ?

    1. Hi Sunil

      It never happens automatically. If you are the only legal heir (mother is another) . then you will have to get this done, will have to hire a laywer !

      Manish

  25. Chetan Ambi says:

    This is a very informative article. After reading the article I was checking all my financial instruments and realized I missed mentioning nominee in one of my mutual fund. I will be adding the nominee tomorrow. Thanks Manish !!

    One suggestion to all readers. List down all your financial products and verify whether nominee is mentioned/correct or not. This we can do once in a year. This will solve many problems later.

    1. Yes, and this small mistake can cost a lot to your loved one’s later !

      Manish

  26. KS says:

    Can a beneficiary of a WILL be the Executor too?

    I am making my wife beneficiary of all my assets. Can she be names as Executor of the WILL too?

    1. I think you asked it on forum

  27. bemoneyaware says:

    Thanks for link to our website. Really appreciate it

    1. Welcome .. any good content has to be linked 🙂 .. Its always good for readers !

  28. Aruna nair says:

    My sister recently passed away. There is a registered will where I have been appointed by her as the guardian to her minor daughter. The will clearly specifies that all assets will go to the minor daughter and still banks, financial institutions are insisting on letters of succession and a probate. Why?

    1. Aruna

      Who is the nominee mentioned in the bank documents ? Is it you ? I feel as its a little out of context case and minor is involved, they just want to be doubly sure .

  29. Satish Ramankutty says:

    Wonderful article from you as it has always been 🙂

  30. Ravi says:

    Death Certificate : Make sure you apply for atleast 10 ‘original’ copies . A lot of times the original ink signed copy is required and one has to return to the government clerks to ask for more. Get extra copies when you apply for the first time.

    1. Thanks for sharing that tip !

  31. Naxita Merchant says:

    This is regarding: Property: What is the status of Joint property Holder? Can both the holder have different Nominee? If 2nd jt holder Die’s with the nomination but no will, than what is the legal status of niminee? can you pl write on this subject

    1. Yes both of them can have their own nominee ! . But I think there is no concept of nominee in real estate .

  32. Sushila says:

    I understand that will registration is optional, but you list that as a mistake – please explain how?
    If registration is better how and where to do the registration?
    After registration if codicils are made or a new will (revised) is made; does it become necessary to register that as well?

    1. bharat shah says:

      refer the following for other view about registration:
      http://www.moneylife.in/article/hamlet-and-his-will/34746.html

      thank you for detailed article, Manish and JI team.

      1. Thanks for sharing that link !

    2. Amit says:

      Yes, registration is optional but a Registered WILL is more authentic. It could be registered with registration authorities of the respective states.
      Yes any modification in WILL also needs to be registered.

    3. If a WILL Is registered, Its final . I mean then its known that its not FAKE . But if its unregistered , then anyone can challenge it and say that its a FAKE one ..

  33. Vijay says:

    Hi Manish,
    I am a regular reader of this site and thanks for this yet another eye opening article.

    I have few questions.

    I have only one son and hence I was thinking that there is no need to prepare a WILL as everything will go to him naturally after my death.
    1. Is my understanding correct?
    2. For banks and PF, I have mentioned the nominees but what about the real estate ? As far as I know there is no way to mention the nominees in the real estate titles.
    3. Is a single succession certificate enough for all the properties or do the heirs have to get a succession certificate for each and every property ? For Ex: If there are 2 flats in my name, should my son get 1 succession certificate for each of them ?

    Please clarify..

    Thanks and best regards,
    Vijay

    1. Amit says:

      Hi,
      Nodoubt you have a son only and everything will go to him. Without a WILL, distribution of assets takes place as per Rule of Succession.
      At present there is no rule to make nominees for real estate
      Succession certificate is a one time process to claim of inherited assets

    2. The problem is that you know there is one son and single legal heir . But bank does not know that . Bank needs a proof that all the things should go to him and him only. What if I come tomm and say I am second child ? Thats why you need to create a WILL even if there is a single child !

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