Procurement of Succession Certificate

What is a Succession certificate?

A succession certificate is a document that is granted by a civil court to the legal heirs of a deceased person who dies without leaving a will. It is granted by the court to realise the debts and securities of the deceased.

It establishes the authenticity of the heirs and gives them the authority to have securities and other assets transferred in their names as well as inherit debts.

 It is issued as per the applicable laws of inheritance on an application made by a beneficiary to a court of competent jurisdiction.

A succession certificate is necessary, but not always sufficient, to release the assets of the deceased. For these, a death certificate, letter of administration and no-objection certificates will be needed.

Application: A petition needs to be filed with the district court or high court within whose jurisdiction the asset is located.

Form: http://arunachalipr.gov.in/Forms/Form%20Succession%20Certificate.pdf

Details: The name and relationship of the petitioner, names of all heirs of the deceased, details about the time, date and place of death should be mentioned in the application. A copy of the death certificate has to be produced.

Process:

o   Engage an advocate who is reliable and reasonable in levying lawyer fees for this purpose.  

o   The Application is to be made in the court, where the properties of your deceased relative are situated or where he / she normally resided. Depending on the value of the estate of the deceased, the matter shall go to the type of court, which can conduct cases for that value [This is known as ""pecuniary jurisdiction"" of the court]

o   You have to apply to the court with the names of all other heirs of your late relative as the respondents in the matter.

o   Normally a newspaper notice is also issued apart from mandatory notice to the respondents.

Upon the expiry of the time period (normally 1 and a half months) from the date of publication of the notice after the respondents have given their no objection, the court passes the orders for issuance of the Succession Certificate in your name, for which you have to then submit Judicial Stamp papers of sufficient amount (as per the prescribed court fees structure) in the court, where after the Certificate is typed by the court staff, duly signed and sealed and delivered

Fees: The court levies a fixed percentage of the value of the estate as fee for issuance of the certificate.

Points to note:

o   The court fee has to be paid in the form of judicial stamp papers of the required amount, after which the certificate is typed, duly signed and delivered.

o   In addition to the court fee, the lawyer's fee also needs to be taken into account.

o   If the petition is not contested, the court usually issues a succession certificate in five to seven months.

Content Source: Economic Times, Sakala