These are asked for interchangeably by officials, which causes a great deal of wasted effort. They are different documents from different authorities for different purposes.
| Legal heir certificate | Succession certificate | |
|---|---|---|
| Issued by | Tahsildar or revenue authority | Civil court, District Judge |
| Governing law | State revenue rules | Part X, Indian Succession Act, 1925 |
| What it establishes | Who the surviving heirs are | Authority to receive debts and securities |
| Typical use | Pension, gratuity, PF, insurance, employment benefits, utility transfers | Bank deposits, shares, bonds, recovery of debts owed to the deceased |
| Time and cost | Weeks, nominal fee | Months, court fee on the value of the assets |
Legal heir certificate
An administrative record identifying the surviving family members. Obtained by applying to the Tahsildar with the death certificate, proof of relationship and address, and an affidavit. It is quick and cheap, and it is sufficient for most employment-related and government-related claims. It does not decide title and it does not bind a bank that insists on a court grant.
In Karnataka the application is made through the Nadakacheri or Atalji Janasnehi Kendra counter for the taluk, which is the single window for revenue certificates, and the Tahsildar is the issuing authority. Note one Bengaluru-specific development before you spend time on it: the Bengaluru Urban district administration now states that the legal heir certificate is issued only to the kin of deceased government servants, and directs everyone else to obtain a succession certificate from the jurisdictional civil court. Check the current position at your taluk office before you queue, because the answer has changed and the older guidance is still circulating.
Succession certificate
A grant under Section 370 onwards of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, made by the District Judge, empowering the holder to receive debts and securities due to the deceased and to give a valid discharge. Its availability depends on Part X, including Section 370; it is not defined solely by whether the deceased left a will. The petition is published, objections are invited, and a court fee is payable on the value of the debts and securities.
Section 372 tells you what the petition must contain, and the list is not optional: the time of death; the ordinary residence of the deceased at the time of death, and if that was outside the judge's jurisdiction, the property of the deceased within those limits; the family or other near relatives and their respective residences; the right in which the petitioner claims; the absence of any impediment under Section 370; and the debts and securities in respect of which the certificate is applied for. A false averment in the petition is itself an offence, so the schedule of accounts has to be accurate rather than approximate.
Section 373 sets the procedure. If satisfied there is ground for entertaining the application, the Judge fixes a hearing date, has notice served on anyone who ought to receive special notice, has it posted in a conspicuous part of the court house and otherwise published, and then decides the right to the certificate in a summary manner. Where the questions of law or fact are too intricate to decide summarily, the Judge may still grant the certificate to whoever has prima facie the best title, leaving the parties to litigate title separately. Under Section 375 the Judge may require a bond with sureties as a condition of the grant, so budget for that.
Two sections explain why banks want it. Section 374 lets the certificate empower the holder to receive interest or dividends, to negotiate or transfer the securities, or both, so ask expressly for the power to transfer and not merely to receive. Section 381 makes the certificate conclusive against the persons owing the debts and gives them a full indemnity for payments made in good faith to the holder. That indemnity is the whole point: the bank is not protecting you, it is protecting itself. Section 383 allows the certificate to be revoked, including where it was obtained on a false suggestion or by concealing something material, so a certificate taken behind the backs of other heirs is not safe.
This is the most important point. A succession certificate covers debts and securities, not land or buildings. For immovable property of an intestate, the heirs succeed by operation of the applicable succession law, and the practical steps are mutation in the revenue records, and where the heirs are dividing it, a registered partition deed or release deed. Do not expect a succession certificate to get a flat transferred.
| Legal heir certificate | Succession certificate | Probate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Issued by | Revenue authority, Tahsildar | Civil court | Civil court |
| Establishes | Who the heirs are | Authority to collect debts and securities | Validity of a will |
| Requires a will | No | No | Yes |
| Typical use | Pension, gratuity, employment benefits | Bank balances, shares, deposits | Any asset, where a will exists |
| Immovable property | Not sufficient | Not sufficient | Yes, where under a will |
| Cost | Nominal | Ad valorem on the value | Ad valorem, with a cap in some States |
Which to apply for
Ask the institution holding the asset exactly what it requires, in writing, before you file anything. RBI's 2025 directions distinguish claims with a valid nomination or survivorship clause, uncontested claims without either, and claims involving a will or dispute. The prescribed routes can allow settlement without a court grant, including specified alternatives above the simplified-claim threshold. A succession certificate is therefore not automatically required merely because a balance exceeds that threshold.
What it costs in Karnataka, and the mistake that doubles it
Under the Karnataka Court-Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1958, the fee on a succession certificate is the same ad valorem fee that applies to probate, computed on the amount or value of the debts and securities specified in the certificate. The trap is in what comes next: where the certificate is later extended to a debt or security you left out, the fee on the extension is charged at one and a half times that rate. So list every account, deposit, folio, bond and receivable in the original petition, even the small ones. Adding a forgotten fixed deposit later costs half as much again as including it at the start. Rates are slabbed and are revised by the State, so confirm the current slab before you value the petition. Our note comparing a succession certificate with the alternatives sets out the documents to gather first.
For immovable property, neither document is the answer
The practical sequence for a Bengaluru flat or site is mutation in the revenue records and transfer of the khata with the municipal authority, on the strength of the death certificate, proof of heirship and the heirs' consent. Where the heirs are dividing the property rather than holding it jointly, that has to be documented by a registered release deed or partition deed, which attracts stamp duty and registration charges of its own. Where the heirs cannot agree, the remedy is a partition suit, not a certificate of any kind. Our comparison of a grant of probate and the alternatives explains where a court grant is still worth taking and where it is now avoidable.