Probate is a grant by a competent court certifying that the will is genuine and authorising the executor to administer the estate. The law here has just changed, and a great deal of advice still in circulation is out of date.
What the law used to require
Section 213 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 barred a person from establishing any right as executor or legatee under a will unless probate or letters of administration had been granted. For Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains it bit only where the will was made within the territories of the former Lieutenant-Governorship of Bengal, or within the ordinary original civil jurisdiction of the High Courts of Madras and Bombay, or related to immovable property situated there. In practice: effectively compulsory for wills connected with Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai, and not compulsory elsewhere, including Bengaluru.
Parliament has repealed Section 213, removing the mandatory probate requirement. Probate has not been abolished; it has been made voluntary. The repeal is not retrospective, so probate proceedings already pending continue to be governed by the earlier law. The old rule was both religion-based and geography-based, and its removal ends that anomaly.
Why you may still want probate
Repealing the compulsion does not remove the usefulness. Take a grant where:
- The will is likely to be contested. A grant obtained after notice to the heirs is far stronger evidence than an unprobated will.
- A bank, company, depository or registrar insists on it before transferring assets. Institutions follow internal policy and habit, and many will continue asking for a considerable time yet.
- The estate is large or complex, or there are minor beneficiaries.
- There are multiple wills, or doubt about which is the last.
The process in outline
A petition to the District Court or High Court having jurisdiction, with the original will, the death certificate, a schedule of assets, and the details of the heirs. Citations are issued to the heirs and published. If nobody objects, the grant follows. If someone objects, the petition converts into a testamentary suit, which is contested litigation with evidence.
If there is no will
The equivalent grant is letters of administration. For debts and securities specifically, a succession certificate is the usual and much simpler remedy.