Legal Heir Certificate in Coimbatore: How to Get One and Claim Your Shares From the IEPF

In Coimbatore, a legal heir certificate — the Varisu certificate — is issued by the government’s revenue office, the Tahsildar of your taluk, not by a court. You apply in the taluk where the person who died last lived. Public guides put the online fee at around ₹60 and the time at about 15 to 30 days.

For old shares, this one certificate now does a lot of work. The IEPF rules accept it in place of a succession certificate for shares that have gone to the IEPF. SEBI’s rules accept it for shares still with the company, since 22 August 2026. In both cases every heir must agree, and the certificate must be signed by a Tahsildar or a more senior officer.

This matters in Coimbatore more than most places. The city’s mills, pump and motor makers and engineering firms gave generations of families shares that have sat untouched for decades — and old shareholdings multiply. This guide covers which Coimbatore office to go to, the papers, the steps, the cost, and what to do with the certificate once you have it.

Not sure which of the shares are in the IEPF? That decides what you need. Check for unclaimed shares in your name, free.

Shares still in physical form? See how our physical shares to demat service gets them into your demat account, registrar first.

Which office issues a legal heir certificate in Coimbatore?

The Tahsildar of the taluk where the person who died last lived permanently. In Tamil Nadu the legal heir certificate is called the Varisu certificate, and it is a revenue document, not a court order.

You apply at the taluk office for the area, or online through it. Coimbatore district has several taluks — Coimbatore North, Coimbatore South, Mettupalayam, Pollachi, Sulur, Annur, Kinathukadavu, Madukkarai, Perur, Valparai and Anaimalai. Use the one that covers the last permanent address of the person who died.

It goes by that last address, not by where the heirs live today. A son in Bengaluru or in Chennai, whose father lived in R. S. Puram, Peelamedu or Pollachi, applies in Coimbatore district.

The certificate is signed by the Tahsildar. That rank matters. The IEPF and SEBI rules ask for a revenue officer not below the rank of Tahsildar, so the Varisu certificate qualifies. Check who signed it before you leave. A paper signed by a more junior official can be refused by the company.

Can you apply online on TN e-Sevai, and how?

Yes. Tamil Nadu runs the application through the TN e-Sevai portal, and the certificate is form REV-114. You can start it yourself online, or have a nearby e-Sevai centre do it for you.

The one step people miss is the CAN — the Citizen Access Number. Before you can apply for the certificate on e-Sevai, you register once for a CAN, which is your single ID across all Tamil Nadu e-services. After that, three ways lead to the same taluk office:

• TN e-Sevai portal (tnesevai.tn.gov.in). Register for a CAN with your mobile number, choose the Revenue Department’s legal heir certificate service, and upload the papers.
• An e-Sevai centre (Common Service Centre) in your area. The operator fills the form for a small charge. This is the usual route for older applicants in Coimbatore.
• The taluk office in person, where the staff will take the application and the documents.

Whichever way you start, the file goes to the same revenue staff for a field check. You do not escape the local inquiry by applying online — it is part of how the certificate is verified.

One name to know. You may see the term “REV-114” on the application and on the status page. That is simply the Tamil Nadu form code for the legal heir certificate. If an e-Sevai operator asks which certificate you want, say the Varisu certificate, or REV-114.

What papers do you need for a legal heir certificate in Coimbatore?

The death certificate, proof of who you are, proof of how each heir is related, and the names of every heir. The Revenue Department asks for these:

• Death certificate of the person who died. It can be from any year. An old death certificate is accepted.
• Your own ID: Aadhaar, and PAN or voter ID.
• The family ration card, or another document that shows the relationship, such as a birth certificate or a school certificate.
• The names of all the other heirs, with their details. Not every heir has to go to the office, but every name must be in the application.
• A self-declaration or affidavit, stating the facts and naming every heir.
• Address proof of the deceased, to fix which taluk the application belongs to.
• A passport-size photo, and the mobile number used for the CAN and the application.

If the death was never registered, start there. Get the death certificate from the local body first — the Coimbatore Corporation, the municipality or the village panchayat. The office will not take the application without it.

Two checks that matter for shares

• Check the name. Old share certificates often show initials, such as “P. K. Raman”, while the death certificate gives the full name. The company will ask you to explain the difference, usually with an affidavit. Sort it out before you file, not after.
• One certificate covers one person. If a second person has died since — the shareholder first, then the spouse who would have inherited — you need a separate certificate for each death.

How does the process work, step by step?

Apply, wait for a field inquiry by the VAO and the Revenue Inspector, and the Tahsildar issues the certificate if nobody objects. In order:

1. Get the death certificate and gather the papers above.
2. Register for a CAN on the e-Sevai portal, if you are applying online.
3. Agree inside the family who will be the claimant. The other heirs give their consent.
4. Submit the application, on the TN e-Sevai portal, at an e-Sevai centre or at the taluk office.
5. The Village Administrative Officer (VAO) and the Revenue Inspector (RI) verify the facts in the field and recommend the case.
6. The revenue staff check for anyone left out, so the certificate names every heir.
7. If nobody objects, the Tahsildar approves it, and you download the signed REV-114 certificate from the e-Sevai portal.

Heirs living abroad or in another state do not have to travel to Coimbatore. One of them can give a power of attorney to a relative in the district, who applies for them, or sign a notarised no-objection. Papers signed abroad usually need an apostille or consulate attestation, so read our guide for NRI claimants first.

How much does a legal heir certificate cost in Coimbatore, and how long does it take?

The government fee is small — public guides put the online e-Sevai charge at around ₹60 — and it takes about 15 to 30 days. It can take longer if someone objects, because the staff must look into it first.

On top of the fee, budget for the e-Sevai centre’s charge and for a notary and stamp paper if an affidavit is asked for. You do not need a lawyer to apply for a plain case. A disputed or complicated case is a different matter.

Compare that with the court route. A succession certificate means a petition to the district civil court at Coimbatore, a public notice and a court fee charged as a share of the value of the securities. That takes months. For when each one is needed, read transmission of shares without a succession certificate.

The certificate does not expire. Once you have it, it stays valid. If a name is spelt wrong, you can apply for a correction. If the application is rejected, the office gives its reasons, and you can take it up with the Revenue Divisional Officer.

Is a legal heir certificate enough to claim shares from the IEPF?

Yes, if every heir agrees. Since 9 September 2024, the IEPF rules accept a legal heir certificate from a Tahsildar or a higher officer in place of a succession certificate, a probate or a court order. It must come with two more papers:

• A notarised indemnity bond from the claimant. See our indemnity bond guide.
• A no-objection from each of the other heirs, giving up their claim in favour of the claimant.

The IEPF rules have their own value limits, per company: ₹5 lakh for paper shares and ₹15 lakh for demat shares, at the previous day’s closing price. Below them, simpler papers are accepted. Above them, you need a certificate or a court document, and the Varisu certificate is the quickest of those.

The certificate names the heirs, not the shares. So the same Varisu certificate can support every company and every IEPF claim for that person.

How old Coimbatore shares multiply past the limits

Old holdings cross the IEPF value limits far more easily than families expect, because bonus shares and splits multiply them over the years. A small-looking certificate can be worth a great deal today.

Take a Coimbatore name, ELGI Equipments. A certificate for 100 shares held before 2000 is 8,000 shares today. In August 2000 the company split each ₹10 share into ten ₹1 shares and gave a 1:1 bonus, turning 100 into 2,000. A 1:1 bonus in December 2010 doubled that to 4,000, and another in September 2020 doubled it again to 8,000. The family that kept the old certificate and did nothing else now holds eighty times the shares on the paper.

This is why the holding has to be traced before anyone decides which papers are needed. A claim filed on what the family remembers — “a hundred shares” — can fall below the limit and ask for too little, while the true holding sits above it. We check the real, multiplied holding first.

What do you do with the certificate for an IEPF claim?

You use it to file Form IEPF-5, one company at a time. The usual order is:

1. Open a demat account in the claimant’s name. IEPF shares come back only to a demat account.
2. Ask each company’s IEPF nodal officer for an entitlement letter, which confirms what went to the IEPF. The IEPF Authority’s guidance is to get it before you file.
3. File Form IEPF-5 online on the MCA portal, with the legal heir certificate and the death certificate.
4. Post the signed form, the original indemnity bond and the other papers to the company’s nodal officer.
5. The company has 30 days to send its verification report. The IEPF Authority then decides within 60 days of a complete report.
6. The shares are credited to the demat account.

You can file only one claim per company in a financial year. So get the papers right the first time.

Shares that never went to the IEPF go through the company’s registrar instead. Coimbatore is one of the few cities with its own share registrar — SKDC Consultants, which handles the registry for several local companies — while others use Cameo or KFintech in Chennai and Hyderabad. Our transmission of shares guide covers that route, and our IEPF claim service handles the IEPF side.

Is the Varisu certificate the same as a court heirship or succession certificate?

No. The Varisu certificate comes from the Tahsildar. A succession certificate comes from the district civil court, and is a separate process.

Some advisers tell families the court is the only way. For shares, that is no longer so. The Varisu certificate is the revenue document the IEPF and SEBI rules name. You need the court when the heirs disagree, or when a company asks, in writing, for a court document such as a succession certificate — which happens more often for very large holdings or where there is a dispute.

What if one heir will not sign?

Then the Varisu certificate route closes, and the matter goes to the civil court. The Tahsildar sends disputed cases to the court, and the IEPF and SEBI routes both need every heir’s signature.

This is common in old families. A sibling abroad does not reply. A branch of the family nobody has spoken to in years. An heir who has died, so their children must sign instead. Find out early. If one signature will be a problem, the “quick” route can become the slow one, and a succession certificate from the Coimbatore district court may be the better path.

Why does a Delhi team help a Coimbatore family?

Because the IEPF claim is decided in Delhi, at the IEPF Authority, not in Tamil Nadu. The certificate is Coimbatore work. The claim is Delhi work.

A local agent can get the Varisu certificate and file the form. After that, the file waits in a queue in Delhi with nobody nearby to follow it — which is why many claims drift for a year or more. Our team is minutes from the IEPF Authority and follows files up in person.

So you get both halves: a vetted local partner in Tamil Nadu for the certificate and the court work, and a team on the ground in Delhi for the claim. The question is not who is closest to you. It is who is closest to the office that holds your file.

Why not just use a local agent for the certificate?

Because a certificate proves who the heirs are. It does not find the shares, value them or move them. Anyone can get you a certificate. We get you the shares.

• The holding comes first. A local agent works from what the family remembers. That can miss bonus shares, merged companies and shares already in the IEPF — the ELGI example above shows how far off memory can be. We trace the true holding first. Then our vetted local partner gets the certificate, naming the right people, right the first time.
• Ask who is paid for what. An agent is paid for the document, whether or not the shares ever arrive. We are paid only when they do.
• The document is the start. The entitlement letters, Form IEPF-5 for each company and the registrar for shares still with the company all come after it. We handle the whole chain.

For the full service, see succession certificate and legal heir certificate and transfer of shares after death.

Zero advance — you pay only once the shares are credited to your demat account.

Not sure what the family holds? Start with Find Your Shares →

Common questions

What is a Varisu certificate?

Varisu certificate is the Tamil name for a legal heir certificate. It is issued by the Tahsildar of your taluk through the Revenue Department, and names the legal heirs of a person who has died. In Coimbatore you apply for it on the TN e-Sevai portal or at a taluk office, and it carries the form code REV-114.

Who issues the legal heir certificate in Coimbatore?

The Tahsildar of the taluk where the person who died last lived — for example the Coimbatore North, Coimbatore South, Mettupalayam, Pollachi or Sulur taluk office. A Village Administrative Officer and a Revenue Inspector verify the facts first, then the Tahsildar signs it.

How long does it take and what does it cost?

About 15 to 30 days in a plain case, and the government fee is small — public guides put the online e-Sevai charge at around ₹60. A disputed case takes longer, because the revenue staff must look into the objection first.

Can a Varisu certificate be used to claim shares from the IEPF?

Yes. Since 9 September 2024 the IEPF rules accept a legal heir certificate from a Tahsildar in place of a succession certificate, if every heir agrees, along with a notarised indemnity bond and a no-objection from the other heirs. For shares still held by the company, SEBI’s rules accept it too, since 22 August 2026.

What is a CAN on the TN e-Sevai portal?

CAN is the Citizen Access Number, a single ID you register once to use any Tamil Nadu e-service. You create a CAN before you apply for the legal heir certificate on the e-Sevai portal, and then use it for the application and to check the status.