Legal Heir Certificate
Take a situation where a serving or retired employee dies without selecting a nominee, how will the beneficiaries be identified to establish the rightful claim of what is left behind by the deceased, this is where a legal heir certificate comes into play. It validates the relationship of the heir to the deceased for claims relating to pension, provident fund, gratuity or other service benefits of Central and State Government departments.
In some cases, banks and private companies also rely upon such certificates to facilitate the transfer of deposits, balances, investments, and shares because it is relatively much easier and speedy to obtain a legal heir certificate.
Below is the exhaustive procedure for procuring a legal heir certificate, in case you found yourself in the similar situation.
Eligibility
The persons who can apply for legal heir certificate are:
Husband/wife of the deceased person
Son/daughter of the deceased person
Mother of the deceased person
Instructions
To get a legal heir certificate the person has to approach the district Tehsildar office with the application form attached with the required documents and stamp fee. Hence, while lodging the application, it is imperative that the person is in possession of all the necessary documents and information that are asked in the form. Moreover, as the person is required to sign a self-declaration at the end of the form, it is necessary to make sure that all the information provided are correct and complete.
Documents to be attached with the application
Death Certificate
Serving certificate issued by the head of the department in case of serving employee
Identity proof of the applicant
Present address proof of the applicant
Permanent address proof of the applicant
Passport size photograph of applicant
Fees
The applicant is required to affix court fee stamp of Rs. 2 on the application form except in case he belongs to SC/ST category, in which case he is exempted from this fee.
Inquiry
After the submission of the application form, an inquiry will be held for the verification by the local revenue officers and village administrative officers, who will submit their reports in the prescribed form after due inquiry.
Based on the report the certificate will be issued mentioning the names of all the legal heirs. The estimated time to obtain the certificate is 15 to 30 days, in case the certificate is not issued within the concerned period the applicant can approach the sub-collector.
