In case of death of a person without leaving a will, court may grant succession certificate in order to realise securities or debts of the deceased. A civil court issues succession certificate to the legal heirs of a deceased person.
It is required to establish the authenticity of the heirs. Also to authorize them to get assets or securities transferred in their names. Not to forget that assets comes with liabilities as such it also enables inheritance of debts. This is issued on the application from the beneficiary, to court as per laws of inheritance. It is necessary, though may not be always sufficient, to release or transfer the assets. For these letter of administration, no-objection certificates and death certificate is also required.
Application: As discussed earlier also, a petition is required to be filed with the competent jurisdiction where the assets are located.
Details: The application requires details like
– name of petitioner
– relationship with deceased
– names of all heirs of the deceased
– time, date and place of death
Also a copy of the death certificate is required to be produced.
Fees: A fixed percentage of the value of the estate is levied as fee for issuance of the certificate by the court. This fee is to be paid in the form of judicial stamp papers of the said amount. Only after this a the certificate is issued. Also, the lawyer will also charging their fees.
Process: The notice in the newspapers for a given period (generally 45 days) is issued by the court. In case where no one contests the petition on or before the expiry of given period, the court sanctions the order for issuance of succession certificate.
If the petition is not contested, the court usually issues a succession certificate in five to seven months.
Looking at the process, it is always better to write a will or appoint a nominee in all your financial accounts like stocks, saving accounts, fixed deposits or mutual funds etc. The nomination may also be filed with your properties ownership.
