A Nominee on Every Asset: A Yearly Check

Naming a nominee takes a few minutes, usually when you open an account or buy a policy. After that, almost nobody looks at it again.

That is the problem. A nomination made in 2012 does not know that you have since married, had children, lost a parent or fallen out with a sibling. It stays exactly as you wrote it, and it is the name your bank, insurer or fund house will go by.

A short check once a year, on every asset that allows a nominee, is one of the most useful things you can do for your family. Here is how.

First, what a nominee does (and does not do)

A nominee is the person the institution deals with when the holder has passed away. In many cases the nominee receives the money or the asset on behalf of the legal heirs. It does not always settle who is finally entitled to it. We cover the difference in Nominee vs Legal Heir Explained Simply.

Rules also differ by asset type and change over time, so treat the notes below as a guide and confirm the current position with the institution. The habit of checking matters more than any single rule.

Where to check

The table below lists the common places a nomination can sit. Use it as a list for your own check.

Asset	What to look at
Savings and current accounts	Is a nominee registered? Recent banking law changes allow more than one nominee on deposit accounts, so you can split the order or the shares.
Fixed and recurring deposits	A nomination is made per deposit, not per bank. A new FD may not carry over the nominee from an older one.
Bank lockers	The nominee decides who can access the contents. Confirm the nominee and the locker agreement are current.
Life insurance	Check the nominee and the relationship. Many people never update it after marriage or children.
Health insurance	Policies without a nominee can leave a claim waiting on paperwork. Add one, and make sure the family knows the policy exists.
Mutual funds	Nominations are per folio. Fund houses allow up to three nominees with a percentage split.
Stocks and demat	Nominees are set on the demat account and sometimes on the trading account too. Check both.
PPF, EPF and NPS	Each has its own nomination, usually online. EPF and NPS are easy to forget because the money sits with an employer or pension account.
Small savings (NSC, KVP, SCSS, post office schemes)	Nominations are held at the post office or bank branch, and often need a fresh form after changes.
Gold, property and other holdings	Many do not have a formal nomination, so what matters is a clear record of who should know about them and where the papers are.

A simple yearly routine

1. List everything with a nominee field. Go through the table above, and include accounts held jointly or in a parent’s name that you manage.
2. Write down the current nominee for each. If you cannot say who it is, that is your first finding.
3. Ask four questions. Is it still the right person? Are they an adult? Do the shares add up to 100%? Does the nominee know?
4. Update what has changed. Marriage, a birth, a death, a divorce and a new financial year are all good reasons.
5. Record the date you checked. Next year’s check starts from there.

The mistakes this check catches

• A nominee who has passed away, or whose circumstances have changed.
• No nominee at all on an account opened long ago, or on a newer one added in a hurry.
• A minor named as nominee without anyone nominated to act for them. Many forms ask for a guardian.
• Shares that do not add up when more than one nominee is named.
• Different people on related assets, so a policy and the bank account that pays its premium point at different people.
• A nominee who has never been told. The name on the form does not help if no one knows where to look.

Where eKosha fits

In eKosha, every asset type has a nominee step: bank accounts, deposits, insurance, mutual funds, stocks, gold, property, PPF, EPF and NPS, small savings and lockers. You can choose existing people or add someone new, give each nominee a share, and the shares must total 100% before the asset can be saved. The nominees are then recorded against each asset alongside its other details, instead of living in branch forms and portals.

The Vault Setup checklist also includes “add a nominee” as one of its seven steps, so you can see at a glance whether your vault has one yet.

eKosha records who you intend to nominate, so your family knows. It does not replace the nomination on the institution’s own records. When you change a nominee in eKosha, change it with the bank, insurer or fund house too, and the two will match.

Once a year, go through your assets, check each nominee, and fix what has changed. It takes about an hour, and it is one of the few things that can make a hard time easier for the people you love.