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/ Legal Heir Certificate
In case of a sudden demise of a family member, a legal heir certificate must be obtained for transferring the
assets of the deceased to his/her legal heirs. A legal heir certificate is a very important document to establish the
relationship between the deceased and legal heirs. Once the death certificate is obtained from the
municipality/corporation, it is required that the successors apply for this legal heir certificate to claim their right
over the deceased person’s properties and dues. Usually, lawyers help draft and register a legal heir certificate.
A legal heir certificate is different from a succession certificate, a succession certificate is generally issued by the
civil court and there are separate procedures to obtain the same. Major differences between these two
certificates are listed below:
Legal heir certificate usage is limited to certain matters such as claiming employee benefits of the
deceased, insurance claims, property registration etc.
A legal heir certificate is not conclusive proof under the law of succession India.
With respect to the settlement of any property which is disputed or under court litigation, a succession
certificate is vital.
The following persons are considered legal heirs and can claim a legal heir certificate under Indian Law:
Generally, for any property purchase or registration, the buyer should request for a legal heir certificate to
ascertain the ownership of the property. There can be instances, where there are several legal heirs for an
ancestral property and in such cases, it is required that all legal heirs sign on the deed of conveyance giving their
approval to avoid any litigations.
The legitimate heir of the deceased person must approach the appropriate authority in the respective area
with a signed application. This application should contain the names of all the legal heirs, their relationship with
the deceased and addresses of the family members. The death certificate of the departed person should also be
attached. (Death certificate must be obtained from the municipality/corporation office)
The process of obtaining a legal heir certificate generally takes 30 days. If there is an unnecessary delay in
receiving this certificate or the concerned authorities fail to respond, you should then approach the Revenue
Division Officer(RDO)/sub-collector.
Documents Required
In order to obtain a legal heir certificate, following is the list of documents required:
Note:
Identity Proof of Applicant can be voter’s ID, Aadhaar Card (https://cleartax.in/s/aadhaar-card) Driving
License, Passport or any other government-issued identity card.
Address proof of legal heir can be any valid identity proof or telephone/mobile bill, gas bill, bank passbook
with the name and address of the legal heir