This article explains the general legal position in plain language. It isn’t legal advice — succession law varies by religion, by state, and by individual circumstances, so please consult a lawyer for your specific situation.

One of the more disorienting discoveries families make after a death is that there isn’t a single document that proves “who inherits what.” There are several — issued by different authorities, for different purposes, and taking very different amounts of time. Asking for the wrong one can cost months. Here’s how they actually differ.

Legal Heir Certificate

What it proves: who the deceased’s immediate legal heirs are, for routine administrative purposes.

Issued by: the local revenue authority — typically the Tehsildar, Taluka office, or Municipal Corporation.

Used for: pension claims, provident fund and gratuity transfers, small bank account claims, and mutation of property records — situations where an institution needs to know who the heirs are, without a court having to formally rule on it.

Documents and time: a death certificate, ID and address proof of the applicant, and an affidavit listing all heirs. It’s an administrative process rather than a judicial one, so it’s typically issued within a few weeks.

This is usually the fastest, cheapest option, and it’s often enough on its own — many banks, for instance, will accept a legal heir certificate for smaller claims without insisting on anything more.

Succession Certificate

What it proves: the holder’s legal right to collect the deceased’s debts and securities — bank deposits, fixed deposits, shares, bonds, and similar movable financial assets — when there’s no will.

Issued by: a civil court, under the Indian Succession Act, 1925.

Used for: situations where a bank, company or institution refuses to release funds or securities on a legal heir certificate alone, typically because the amount is large or there’s some dispute among the heirs.

Documents and time: a petition to the district court, the death certificate, proof of relationship, and details of the assets involved. Because it’s a judicial process — the court issues public notice inviting objections before granting it — it typically takes several months rather than weeks, and involves a court fee calculated as a percentage of the asset value.

Letters of Administration

What it proves: a court-appointed administrator’s authority to manage and distribute the entire estate of someone who died intestate (without a will), or whose will didn’t name a willing executor.

Issued by: the District Judge with jurisdiction over where the deceased lived or where their property is located, under the Indian Succession Act.

Used for: broader or more complex estates — where a succession certificate (limited to debts and securities) isn’t sufficient because immovable property or the estate as a whole needs formal administration.

Documents and time: a detailed petition covering the deceased’s death, the surviving heirs, and a description of the estate’s assets, followed by court notice and, if satisfied, a grant of the Letters — a process similar in length to a succession certificate.

Probate

What it proves: that a will is genuine and validly executed, and grants the named executor legal authority to carry out its instructions.

Issued by: a civil court, as a certified copy of the will.

For decades, Section 213 of the Indian Succession Act made probate mandatory for wills connected to Mumbai, Kolkata or Chennai — the former Presidency towns — for most communities. That changed recently: Parliament’s Repealing and Amending Act, 2025 removed Section 213, and the law is moving toward probate no longer being compulsory even in those cities. Because this is a very recent change, confirm the current position with a lawyer before assuming it applies to your situation — banks and registrars may take time to update their own internal requirements even after a change in the law.

Which one do you actually need?

Situation	Likely document
Small routine claims (pension, PF, small bank balance), no will	Legal Heir Certificate
Bank deposits, shares or securities, no will, institution wants formal proof	Succession Certificate
Whole estate needs administration, no will (or no willing executor)	Letters of Administration
A valid will exists and needs to be formally established	Probate

A practical starting point

Start with a Legal Heir Certificate — it’s the fastest and cheapest, and often the only thing routine claims actually require. Escalate to a Succession Certificate or Letters of Administration only if a specific institution insists on it, or if the estate is large or contested enough to warrant it. If there’s a valid will, the executor’s first step is simply to check with each institution involved what they currently require — practice is still catching up to the recent change in the law.

Where eKosha fits

None of these certificates are faster to obtain if nobody knows what the deceased actually owned. The petition for a succession certificate or Letters of Administration requires a description of the assets involved — exactly the kind of list our financial inventory checklist describes. Families who’ve kept that list in eKosha walk into this process knowing what to ask for; families who haven’t are often discovering the full picture and navigating the legal process at the same time.

Legal Heir Certificate, Succession Certificate, and Probate Explained