Probate and Succession Certificates in India
How wills are certified, how heirs collect a deceased person's bank balances and shares, and what changed when mandatory probate was removed in December 2025. General information, not legal advice.
_This article is general information about succession procedure in India and is not legal advice. The law here is technical, varies by state and by community, and changed recently. Please consult a qualified advocate before acting on anything below._
When someone dies in India, their family often runs into a wall the moment they try to act: a bank will not release a fixed deposit, a registrar will not transfer shares, and a buyer will not accept a will at face value. India does not have one single document that unlocks an estate. Instead it has several, each with its own purpose, its own court, and its own cost. This guide explains the main ones, probate, letters of administration and the succession certificate, and notes an important change that took effect in late December 2025.
Probate: court certification of a will
Probate is a certified copy of a will, issued under the seal of a court, together with a grant authorising the executor to administer the estate. It is governed by the Indian Succession Act, 1925, with the grant procedure set out from section 276 onwards. Probate can be granted only to an executor named in the will, and only after the court is satisfied the will is genuine.
For decades, section 213 of the Act made probate a hard precondition for some wills: no right as an executor or legatee could be established in court unless probate (or letters of administration) had been obtained. By virtue of section 57, that mandatory requirement applied to wills made by Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains within the ordinary original civil jurisdiction of the High Courts of Calcutta (Kolkata), Madras (Chennai) and Bombay (Mumbai), or to wills made elsewhere that dealt with immovable property situated within those territories. It also reached certain wills of other communities. Outside those situations, probate was generally optional, not compulsory.
That position changed. As The Hindu, Bar and Bench and other outlets reported, the Repealing and Amending Act, 2025 omitted section 213 of the Indian Succession Act. The Act received Presidential assent on 20 December 2025 and was notified the following day. In plain terms, Parliament has removed the statutory compulsion to obtain probate before a will can be acted upon, even in the old Presidency-town situations. Probate itself has not been abolished; the procedure under section 276 onwards still exists, and an executor or beneficiary may still choose to seek probate where it is useful, for example to give an institution or a buyer the comfort of a court grant. The Act also expressly protects rights already accrued and proceedings already concluded, so families part-way through a matter should take advice on where they stand.
Probate is not free. Court fees are charged ad valorem, meaning as a percentage of the value of the estate, and the rates are fixed by state legislation, so the cost in Maharashtra differs from West Bengal. The process runs through the High Court or District Court depending on the property and the state.
Letters of administration: when there is no executor
If a person dies leaving a will but does not name an executor, or the named executor has died or declines to act, the court does not simply ignore the will. Under section 232 of the Act, the court can grant letters of administration with the will annexed, usually to a residuary or universal legatee, who must still prove the will. Letters of administration are also the route where a person dies wholly intestate and the heirs need formal authority to administer immovable and other property. Like probate, these grants attract ad valorem court fees and are sought from the District Court or High Court with jurisdiction over the property or the deceased's last residence.
The succession certificate: collecting debts and securities
The document most ordinary families actually need is the succession certificate, and it is distinct from probate. It is governed by sections 370 to 390 of the Indian Succession Act and is granted by the District Court. Its purpose is narrow but practical: it authorises the holder to collect the debts and securities owed to a person who has died, typically without a will. "Securities" is defined to include government promissory notes, stocks, shares, debentures and similar instruments, and "debts" covers things like bank deposits. So a succession certificate is what a family uses to claim a deceased relative's bank balances, fixed deposits, mutual fund units and listed shares.
It is important to understand its limits. A succession certificate does not, by itself, decide who owns the assets or settle title; under section 370 it cannot be granted for property such as land or a house. It chiefly protects the institution that pays out: a bank that releases money to the certificate holder is indemnified against later claims. Jurisdiction lies with the District Judge where the deceased ordinarily resided, or where any of the property is located if there was no fixed residence. The court publishes a notice inviting objections before the grant, and ad valorem court fees under the Court Fees Act, 1870 apply.
Legal heir certificate is not the same thing
Families frequently confuse the succession certificate with a legal heir certificate, and the two are not interchangeable. A legal heir certificate is issued by a revenue official such as a Tahsildar or Taluk office, not a court, and is generally governed by state practice rather than the central Act. It identifies who the heirs are and is commonly used for pensions, provident fund, gratuity, utility transfers and compassionate appointments. It is quicker and cheaper, but it does not carry the authority of a court grant and banks and registrars usually will not accept it in place of a succession certificate for shares and substantial deposits.
What a nominee can and cannot do
Many Indians assume that naming a nominee on a bank account, a demat account or a society flat decides who inherits. The Supreme Court of India has repeatedly held otherwise. A nominee ordinarily receives the asset as a trustee or custodian, to hold for the lawful heirs and to prevent a vacuum, not as the absolute owner. In Indrani Wahi (2016) and later in the Aruna Oswal proceedings, the Court underlined that nomination does not override the law of succession; the heirs can still establish their rights. Nomination is a convenient handover mechanism, not a substitute for a will or for the succession process.
Timelines, backlog and the role of a lawyer
The honest picture on timing is that these are court processes, and Indian courts are heavily congested. As the Economic Times, the Times of India and other outlets have reported using National Judicial Data Grid figures, tens of millions of cases sit pending, and land and property matters are among the largest categories, making up a very large share of pending civil litigation. An uncontested succession certificate may move in a few months, but anything contested, or filed in a busy metropolitan court, can stretch much longer. A specialist advocate matters here, both to choose the correct document and forum and to value the estate correctly for the ad valorem fee, since over-valuing or under-valuing causes problems either way.
Frequently asked questions
The questions below are general information, not legal advice. Indian succession law turns on community, state and the specific assets involved, so please consult a lawyer about your own situation.
Where Afterlife AI™ fits, and where it does not
Much of the pain above comes from heirs not knowing what exists, where it is held, or what the person actually wanted. That is the gap Afterlife AI™ is built to close. As you build your Persona, you can name a Trusted Contact and set up Executor Lock™, a product feature that records your wishes and seals your account so the right person can act when the time comes. Executor Lock™ is a digital governance feature, not a legal appointment: it does not grant probate, replace a will, or make anyone your legal executor under the Indian Succession Act. Think of it as making your real-world succession easier to carry out, by leaving your people a clear, organised starting point rather than a guessing game. The legal steps, probate where useful, letters of administration, or a succession certificate, still run through the courts and still call for an advocate.
Practical takeaway
For most families the sequence is simple to state, if not to execute: identify whether there is a valid will, decide whether probate or letters of administration genuinely help, and obtain a succession certificate to release bank and securities holdings. With mandatory probate now removed, the friction is lower than it was, but the procedures, the court fees and the backlog remain real. None of this is a substitute for an advocate, and nothing here should be acted on without one.
Sources
The Indian Succession Act, 1925 (full text, sections 232, 276 onwards, 370 to 390)
The Repealing and Amending Act, 2025 (Press Information Bureau factsheet)
Bar and Bench: Omission of Section 213, seeking probate of a will is no longer mandatory
Section 370, Indian Succession Act, 1925 (succession certificates, debts and securities)
National Judicial Data Grid (pendency of cases in Indian courts)