Succession Certificate in Hyderabad: When You Need One, Court Procedure and Court Fee

This guide is for families in Hyderabad and Telangana who are claiming a deceased person’s bank deposits, fixed deposits, shares, mutual fund units, provident fund or money owed to the deceased, where there is no nominee, the heirs disagree, or a bank or company asks for a succession certificate. It is also for NRIs whose parent held accounts in Hyderabad. It explains what a succession certificate is and what it is not, which court deals with it, the petition and the court fee, and when banks, depositories and the provident fund can settle a claim without one.

What it is · When you need one · Nominee or legal heir · Which court · The petition and hearing · Court fee in Telangana · After the grant · NRIs · Checklist

What a succession certificate is

• The law: Part X of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 (sections 370 to 390). A District Judge may grant a certificate in respect of the “debts and securities” of a deceased person (sections 371 and 372).
• Debts and securities only: for Part X, “security” includes government securities, “any stock or debenture of, or share in, a company or other incorporated institution”, and securities for money issued by a local authority (section 370(2)). When the Judge grants a certificate, the Judge “shall therein specify the debts and securities set forth in the application”, and may empower the holder to receive interest or dividends on the securities, to negotiate or transfer them, or both (section 374).
• Protection for whoever pays: the certificate is “conclusive as against the persons owing such debts or liable on such securities”, and gives “full indemnity” to those who pay or deal in good faith with the holder (section 381). It “shall have effect throughout India” (section 380).
• Not a decision on ownership: the Supreme Court in Banarsi Dass v Teeku Dutta (27 April 2005) said: “The grant of a certificate does not establish title of the grantee as the heir of the deceased”, and that it only furnishes “authority to collect his debts”. “No decision under this Part upon any question of right between any parties shall be held to bar the trial of the same question in any suit”, and whoever receives the money remains liable “to account therefore to the person lawfully entitled thereto” (section 387).
• Not for a house or land: the Telangana High Court said on 7 September 2026 that a succession certificate “is ordinarily intended to establish entitlement to the debts and securities of a deceased person. It neither confers nor determines title to immovable property.”

When you may need one

• Recovering a debt through a court: no court shall pass a decree against a debtor of a deceased person, or execute a decree against such a debtor, in favour of a person claiming on succession, except on production of a probate, letters of administration, an Administrator-General’s certificate, or “a succession certificate granted under Part X and having the debt specified therein” (section 214(1)). “Debt” here excludes rent, revenue or profits from agricultural land (section 214(2)).
• Bank deposits without a nominee, or in a dispute: see the RBI section below. Under the RBI directions of 26 September 2025, a succession certificate was one of the documents a bank could accept above the threshold, and one of the documents for settling contested claims.
• Shares, demat holdings and mutual fund units: see the SEBI section below. Above SEBI’s simplified limits, a succession certificate is one of the accepted documents, alongside alternatives.
• Where letters of administration are required instead: a certificate “shall not be granted” for a debt or security to which a right is required by section 212 to be established by letters of administration (section 370(1), as amended in 2025). Section 212 does not apply to the intestacy of a Hindu, Muhammadan, Buddhist, Sikh, Jaina, Indian Christian or Parsi (section 212(2)).
• Probate is no longer compulsory: the Repealing and Amending Act, 2025 (assent 20 December 2025) omitted section 213 of the Indian Succession Act, which earlier made probate compulsory for certain wills, and amended section 370(1) accordingly. Older copies of the Act still print the earlier wording.

Nominee or legal heir: what the Supreme Court has said

• Bank deposits: in Ram Chander Talwar v Devender Kumar Talwar (6 October 2010), the Supreme Court said section 45ZA(2) of the Banking Regulation Act “merely puts the nominee in the shoes of the depositor after his death”, but “by no stretch of imagination makes the nominee the owner of the money lying in the account”, and the money would “devolve according to the rule of succession to which the depositor may be governed”.
• Shares and demat securities: in Shakti Yezdani v Jayanand Jayant Salgaonkar (14 December 2023), the Court held that “the use of the word ‘vest’ does not by itself, confer ownership of the shares/securities in question, to the nominee”, that “the nominee would not get an absolute title to the subject matter of nomination”, and that “Nomination process therefore does not override the succession laws.”
• Payment to the nominee still discharges the payer: payment by a bank under section 45ZA “shall constitute a full discharge to the banking company”, without affecting any claim another person may have against the person paid (section 45ZA(4)). SEBI’s 2026 circular says the regulated entity “shall be fully discharged from its liabilities upon transmission of assets to the nominee(s)”, and that nominees receive the assets “as trustee on behalf of legal heir(s)”.
• Up to four bank nominees from 1 November 2025: the Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025 allows “one or more persons not exceeding four, either successively or simultaneously” for deposits, and up to four “successively” for lockers and articles in safe custody. The Central Government announced that these provisions came into force on 1 November 2025, the date on which the Banking Companies (Nomination) Rules, 2025 also came into force. For a simultaneous nomination, RBI’s Nomination Directions of 28 October 2025 (paragraph 10) said that the share of a nominee who dies before receiving it is settled as in an account without a nominee. Those directions also now appear on RBI’s list of withdrawn circulars, so ask the bank which current RBI direction it applies.

What the RBI directions of 26 September 2025 said about deceased customers’ accounts

• Status of these directions: they now appear on RBI’s list of withdrawn circulars, so ask the bank which current RBI direction it applies. They were issued for commercial and co-operative banks and did not cover Government savings schemes such as PPF and the Senior Citizen Savings Scheme.
• With a nominee or survivor: the directions said the bank “shall not insist on production of legal documents such as Succession Certificate, Letter of Administration, Probate of Will, etc.” from the nominee or survivor, “irrespective of the amount standing to the credit of the deceased account holder(s)”, after making clear in writing that they receive the payment “as a trustee of the legal heirs” (paragraphs 8 and 9). In a joint account, “the nominee’s right arises only after the death of all the depositors”.
• No nominee, below the threshold: the directions provided a simplified procedure where the amount was less than the threshold and there was no nomination, no will, no contesting claim and no court order. The threshold was Rs 5 lakh for a co-operative bank and Rs 15 lakh for any other bank, “or such higher limit as may be fixed by the bank”. The documents included a legal heir certificate “issued by a competent authority” or a declaration by “an independent person who is well known to the family of the deceased”, who “is not a party to the claim and is acceptable to the bank”, and “No bond of surety from a third-party shall be obtained” up to the threshold (paragraphs 7(h) and 10(a)).
• No nominee, above the threshold: the directions said the bank “shall settle the claim based on” a succession certificate, “OR” a legal heir certificate issued by a competent authority, or an affidavit sworn before a Notary Public, Judge or Judicial Magistrate by an independent person who is well known to the family of the deceased, is not a party to the claim and is acceptable to the bank; the bank “may also call for a bond of surety” (paragraph 10(b)).
• A will, or a dispute: claims involving a will were to be settled on probate or letters of administration, “as applicable”, though the bank was “free to exercise discretion” to act on the will without probate where it was not inconsistent with applicable laws, there was no dispute about it, and the bank was satisfied it was genuine. In case of “contesting claims or dispute amongst the legal heir(s)”, the bank was to settle “on the basis of Probate of Will or Letter of Administration or Succession Certificate or Court order/ decree, as applicable” (paragraph 11).
• Time and compensation: the directions said a bank “shall settle a claim … within a period not exceeding 15 calendar days from the date of receipt of all the required documents”, and for delay “attributable to the bank” provided for interest “at a rate not less than the prevailing Bank Rate + 4% per annum” (paragraphs 31 and 33).

Shares, demat and mutual funds: SEBI circular of 23 July 2026

• Scope: transmission of listed securities and units issued by asset management companies after the death of the sole holder or all joint holders. The circular came into force “30 days from the date of issuance”.
• Simplified documentation limits: Rs 10 lakh for securities in physical form (per listed entity, or per AMC for units) and Rs 30 lakh for dematerialised securities (per beneficial owner). A Quick Transmission route applies up to Rs 10,000 (physical) and Rs 30,000 (demat), “only in favour of immediate relatives … viz. parents, spouse, children and parents-in-law”. Before this circular the simplified limits were Rs 5 lakh and Rs 15 lakh.
• Above the limits: the documents accepted include a copy of the will with a notarised indemnity bond, “OR Legal Heirship Certificate or its equivalent issued by relevant authority which will mean a revenue authority not below the rank of a Tehsildar”, with a notarised indemnity bond, “OR Copy of Succession certificate or Letter of Administration or Court Decree”. Probate is no longer a mandatory requirement.
• Disputes: “the framework shall not apply where there is any dispute or contesting/competing claims”, and claimants must resolve the matter “through appropriate judicial or legal proceedings”.

Provident fund

• Under paragraph 50 of the Employees’ Provident Funds Scheme, 2026, the amount is payable to the nominee where a nomination subsists. If no nomination subsists, or it covers only part of the amount, the rest “shall become payable to the members of his family in equal shares in the following manner”, and the paragraph then lists the family members it means: a spouse, a minor legitimate or adopted son dependent on the employee, an unmarried daughter wholly dependent on the employee’s earnings, a child who is infirm and wholly dependent on the employee’s earnings “so long as the infirmity continues”, dependent parents (including the parents-in-law of a woman employee) and, for an unmarried employee whose parents are not alive, a wholly dependent minor brother or sister. In any other case the amount is payable “to the person legally entitled to it”. Where there is no nominee or entitled person and the amount does not exceed ten thousand rupees, the Commissioner may pay it to a claimant after enquiry (paragraph 53(2)).

Which court

• The Act: “The District Judge within whose jurisdiction the deceased ordinarily resided at the time of his death” may grant the certificate. Only “if at that time he had no fixed place of residence” does the place where any part of the property is found decide the court (section 371). “District Judge” means the Judge of a principal civil court of original jurisdiction (section 2(bb)).
• Hyderabad district: under the Telangana Civil Courts Act, 1972, the City Civil Court has jurisdiction over “all suits and proceedings of a civil nature arising in the district of Hyderabad”, with “one Chief Judge of the rank of a District Judge” and Additional Chief Judges (sections 3 and 4). The Chief Judge distributes work among the judges (section 6), and the High Court may authorise Senior Civil Judges of the City Civil Court to take up Succession Act proceedings that cannot be disposed of by District Delegates (section 19(1) and (4)). Which judge of the City Civil Court receives these petitions is a point to confirm before filing.
• Other courts: the State Government may by notification invest a court below the District Judge with the District Judge’s powers under Part X (section 388). Which court sits for a particular area, for example in Ranga Reddy or Medchal-Malkajgiri district, is a point to confirm before filing. See our guides to the City Civil Court, Hyderabad and the Ranga Reddy District Court at L.B. Nagar.

The petition and the hearing

• Signed and verified like a plaint: the petition is “signed and verified by or on behalf of the applicant” in the manner the Code of Civil Procedure prescribes for a plaint (section 372(1)).
• What it must state (section 372(1)): the time of death; the deceased’s ordinary residence at death (and, if outside the court’s limits, the property within them); “the family or other near relatives of the deceased and their respective residences”; the right in which the petitioner claims; the absence of any impediment under section 370 or any other law; and “the debts and securities in respect of which the certificate is applied for”. A petition may cover some debts, or portions of them (section 372(3)).
• A false statement is an offence: a person who verifies an averment knowing or believing it to be false, or not believing it to be true, “shall be deemed to have committed an offence under section 198 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860”, as the Act’s text reads (section 372(2)).
• Notice: if satisfied there is ground to entertain the petition, the Judge fixes a hearing date, causes notice to be served on any person who should receive special notice, and has it posted in the court-house and “published in such other manner, if any, as the Judge … thinks fit” (section 373(1)). The Telangana State Judicial Academy’s guide for court staff describes public notice by publication “in a widely circulated news paper” as well.
• Summary decision: the Judge “shall proceed to decide in a summary manner the right to the certificate”. If the questions are “too intricate and difficult for determination in a summary proceeding”, the Judge may still grant a certificate to the applicant who appears to have “prima facie the best title”; where there are several applicants, the Judge may consider “the extent of interest and the fitness” of each (section 373(1), (3) and (4)). The Supreme Court in Banarsi Dass said the applicant “has to adduce cogent and credible evidence in support of the application”.
• Security bond: where the Judge proceeds under section 373(3) or (4), the Judge “shall”, and in any other case “may”, require a bond “with one or more surety or sureties, or other sufficient security”, for rendering an account and for indemnity of those who may be entitled (section 375(1)).

Court fee in Telangana

• Deposit with the petition: every application “shall be accompanied by a deposit of a sum equal to the fee payable”; if the application is allowed, the deposit is spent on the stamp for the fee, and any sum not spent “shall be refunded” (section 379).
• The rates: Schedule I to the Telangana Court-fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1956 sets the fee on a certificate under the Indian Succession Act by “the amount or value of the debt or security or the aggregate amount or value of the debts and securities specified in the certificate”:

• How value is counted: a debt includes interest up to the day its inclusion is applied for, and a security is taken at “its market value on the day on which the inclusion of the security in the certificate is applied for”, so far as it can be ascertained (Explanations II and III).
• Extension: the fee for extending a certificate is computed “at one and a half times the rates”, with credit for the fee already paid (Explanation I).
• Later probate or letters of administration: the fee for a later grant for the same estate is reduced by the fee paid for the certificate (section 53(2)(a)).
• Check the current figure: these are the rates in the published text of the Act. Confirm how the court office applies them, and whether any later amendment applies, before depositing.

After the grant: extension, revocation, appeal

• Extension: the Judge may extend a certificate “to any debt or security not originally specified therein”, with the same effect as if originally included (section 376(1)).
• Revocation: a certificate may be revoked if the proceedings “were defective in substance”, if it was obtained fraudulently or by concealing something material, if it was obtained by an untrue allegation of an essential fact, if it “has become useless and inoperative through circumstances”, or if a court decree or order makes revocation proper (section 383).
• Appeal: an appeal lies to the High Court from an order “granting, refusing or revoking a certificate”, within the time allowed for an appeal under the Code of Civil Procedure (section 384(1) and (2)). Subject to that, and to reference, revision and review under the Code of Civil Procedure, the District Judge’s order is final (section 384(3)). Where an inferior court invested under section 388 passed the order, the appeal lies to the District Judge. The court fee on the memorandum of appeal is “one-half the scale of fee specified in article 1” on the value of the subject-matter (Telangana Court-fees Act, Schedule I).
• An earlier grant in force: a certificate is invalid if a previous certificate, probate or letters of administration for the estate has been granted and is in force (section 385).
• Delay: the Limitation Act has no article written for these petitions; Article 137 gives three years “When the right to apply accrues” for applications not otherwise provided for. In Kunvarjeet Singh Khandpur v Kirandeep Kaur (3 April 2008), the Supreme Court said that “Article 137 is clearly applicable to the petition for grant of Letters of Administration” and that, because of the nature of those proceedings, “it is a continuing right”. That case was about letters of administration under a will, not a succession certificate. Take advice if a long time has passed since the death.

NRIs

• Through a representative: the petition is signed and verified “by or on behalf of the applicant” (section 372(1)). What the court expects for an NRI’s authority and affidavit is a point to confirm before filing.
• Death certificate issued abroad: the RBI directions of 26 September 2025 said a bank “shall accept” the original certified copy of a proof of death certified in the country of issue by an authorised official of an overseas branch of an Indian scheduled commercial bank, a correspondent bank, “a Court Magistrate or Judge or Notary Public”, or consularised by the Indian Embassy or Consulate, or apostilled. Those directions now appear on RBI’s list of withdrawn circulars, so ask the bank which current RBI direction it applies.

Checklist

• Death certificate, and proof of the deceased’s ordinary residence at death.
• For each bank, company, AMC or depository: whether a nomination or survivorship clause exists, and the amount involved.
• Whether the bank or entity will settle on a nomination, a legal heir certificate or affidavit, or the simplified procedure, before deciding to file.
• A list of all legal heirs and near relatives with their addresses, for section 372(1)(c).
• A list of every debt and security to be included, with interest and market value as on the date of application, for the court fee.
• Whether there is a will, and whether any heir disputes the claim.
• Possible sureties, if the court asks for a security bond under section 375.

Related guides: legal heir certificate, drafting a will, partition of family property, gift deed and City Civil Court, Hyderabad.

For a discussion about a succession certificate, a bank or share transmission claim, or the estate of a family member with Musab Hashmi & Associates, call +91 89771 24916 or send an enquiry. Do not include account numbers or identity numbers in the first message.

General legal information, not legal advice. Checked on 29 October 2026 against the Indian Succession Act, 1925 (Telangana High Court copy) read with the Repealing and Amending Act, 2025, the Telangana Civil Courts Act, 1972, the Telangana Court-fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1956, the Limitation Act, 1963, the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and the Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025 with the Banking Companies (Nomination) Rules, 2025, the Reserve Bank of India’s directions of 26 September 2025 and 28 October 2025 (both now on RBI’s list of withdrawn circulars), SEBI’s circular of 23 July 2026, the Employees’ Provident Funds Scheme, 2026, the Supreme Court’s judgments in Banarsi Dass v Teeku Dutta (2005), Kunvarjeet Singh Khandpur v Kirandeep Kaur (2008), Ram Chander Talwar v Devender Kumar Talwar (2010) and Shakti Yezdani v Jayanand Jayant Salgaonkar (2023), and the Telangana High Court’s order of 7 September 2026 in C.R.P. No. 1192 of 2018.