Physical Shares of a Deceased Person: How Heirs Find Them and Convert Them to Demat (2026)

To convert a deceased person’s physical shares to demat, you do not demat them in their name. The company’s registrar transmits the shares to the surviving joint holder, the nominee or the legal heirs, and since 2 April 2026 it credits them straight into that person’s own demat account. So for the family the work is: find every holding, open a demat account in your own name, prove you are entitled, and file one transmission request with the registrar. There is no separate demat step afterwards.

Most families start with one certificate found in a cupboard. The real holding is almost always bigger. Bonus shares, splits and demergers have usually multiplied it, some of it may be in other companies’ names, and part of it may already have gone to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF). This guide is the order that finds all of it, written for the person sorting out a parent’s papers.

Not sure what your parent held? Start with a free check in Find Your Shares → Or let our physical shares to demat team take it from the first letter to the registrar to the credit in your demat account.

Reviewed for legal and procedural accuracy by Sharlee Garg, Company Secretary and Advocate.

How do you find out which shares a deceased parent held?

Follow the paper trail first, then ask the registrars and search the IEPF. No single place lists every share a person held on paper, so each source below catches holdings the others miss.

• Share certificates. Note the company, folio number, certificate numbers and number of shares from each one. Photocopy both sides before anything else.
• Bank passbooks and statements. Dividends show up as credits with the company’s or registrar’s name, often marked DIV. Each one points to a folio, even if the certificate is missing.
• Old dividend warrants and cheque stubs. They carry the folio number, which is all a registrar needs to trace the holding.
• Letters from companies and registrars. Meeting notices, bonus and split letters, and notices about shares moving to the IEPF.
• The income tax portal. A legal heir can register as the deceased person’s representative. The Annual Information Statement lists dividends paid to the PAN in recent years, company by company.
• A demat account, if there was one. The holding statement lists everything held there. Shares already in demat pass to the heir through the depository participant by transmission, a separate and simpler route; this guide is about paper.

Then search. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs website, after a free login, searches unclaimed shares and dividends by PAN, by name, or by company and folio number. Many old paper folios carry no PAN, so search by the parent’s name and every old spelling of it too. Listed companies also publish the names and folios whose shares are due to move, or have moved, to the IEPF. Searching the IEPF by PAN · Searching with a folio number.

Found a certificate but not sure it still means anything? Are old share certificates still valid?

How many shares do your parent’s certificates stand for today?

Usually far more than the number printed on them. Since the certificates were issued, most companies have given bonus shares, split their shares, merged or split off part of the business, and each event changed the count.

Why this matters for an heir, not just for the money. The papers you need depend on the value of the holding, worked out on today’s share count at today’s price, per company. A family that values “100 shares” prepares the simple papers, the registrar finds 2,000 shares worth twenty times as much, and the request comes back.

Send us the certificates in Find Your Shares and we work out what they hold today →

Where are your parent’s shares now?

In one of three places, and often split across them: on the company’s register, in its unclaimed suspense account, or with the IEPF. Write to the registrar with the folio number, a copy of the certificate and the death certificate, and ask how many shares the folio holds today, whether any are in the suspense account or the IEPF, and which dividends are unpaid.

Who do a deceased person’s shares go to?

First to a surviving joint holder, then to a registered nominee, and only then to the legal heirs.

• A joint holder survives: the registrar deletes the deceased person’s name on the death certificate, and the survivor holds the shares.
• A nominee is registered: the shares are transmitted to the nominee.
• No joint holder and no nominee: the shares go to the legal heirs, under the will if there is one, or under the succession law that applies to the family.

Whether a nominee owns the shares outright or holds them for the heirs is a legal question with its own answer. Transmission of shares after a death: the full legal guide.

Which papers do heirs need to claim physical shares?

It depends on what the shares in each listed company are worth today. SEBI’s transmission rules in force since 22 August 2026 set three levels. The registrar must process a complete request within 21 days.

Always: the death certificate, the claimant’s own KYC, the transmission request form, and the client master list of the claimant’s demat account. Where another heir disputes the claim, the simplified route does not apply. Transmission without a succession certificate · Is a legal heir certificate enough? · Succession and legal heir certificates.

How do a deceased person’s physical shares get into your demat account?

In one step: the registrar transmits them and credits them straight into your demat account. Since 2 April 2026 there is no Letter of Confirmation to collect and no separate demat request to make for transmitted shares.

1. Open a demat account in your own name, before anything else. If two heirs will hold the shares jointly, open a joint account in the order they will hold them. Never open one in the deceased person’s name.
2. Update KYC on the folio where the registrar asks for it, and correct any spelling of the deceased person’s name that differs between the certificate and the death certificate.
3. Prepare the papers for the value level in the table above, for each company separately.
4. File the transmission request with each company’s registrar, with the original certificates and the papers.
5. The registrar checks the papers and credits the shares to your demat account, including any bonus shares that were still on the folio.

Once the shares are in your name and in demat, you can hold them, sell them or move them like any other shares. If you are converting shares that are already in your own name, the steps are different: how to convert physical shares to demat. If a certificate is lost, the duplicate rules apply as well: Lost certificates and duplicate shares.

What if a deceased parent’s shares are already in the IEPF?

The heir claims them back with Form IEPF-5, as the claimant, and the IEPF Authority credits them to the heir’s demat account. The transmission is handled inside the claim, so there is no separate transmission first. The heir gets the entitlement letter from the registrar in the heir’s own name, with the death certificate and the heirship papers, then files the form online on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website. The company has 30 days to verify the claim and the IEPF Authority 60 days to decide once that report is complete; most claims take much longer. There is no time limit to claim, and bonus shares issued while the shares sat in the IEPF come back with them. How IEPF claims work.

What if there are several heirs, or one lives abroad?

Every heir signs, but the shares can go to whichever heir the family agrees. The affidavit-cum-NOC records that the other heirs do not object. Heirs can also take the shares jointly, in a joint demat account. An heir living outside India needs an Indian PAN and an NRO demat account, and papers signed abroad are apostilled or attested by the Indian mission. NRO accounts and apostille for NRI heirs.

How long does it take to get a deceased person’s shares into demat?

About three weeks per company once the registrar has a complete set of papers; the time before that is the family’s. The rules give the registrar 21 days and require written reasons for any delay or rejection. Finding every holding, agreeing among the heirs and getting the right certificate usually takes longer than the registrar’s part. Shares in the IEPF take about 90 days on paper, and usually much longer.

Why do heirs get stuck, and why not just use a local lawyer?

Because the certificate in the cupboard is usually only part of the holding, and every paper depends on knowing all of it. A generalist prices “100 shares”, prepares the simple papers, and the registrar returns them because the folio holds twenty times that. Or the bonus shares in the suspense account, the demerged company’s shares and the part that went to the IEPF are never claimed, and the family goes back to court for them years later.

We work the other way round. We trace the complete holding first: every folio, every bonus, split, merger and demerger, and every share in a suspense account or the IEPF. Then a vetted local partner handles the affidavits, notary and court papers where your family lives, on the full holding, the first time. The IEPF itself sits in Delhi, where our team follows files up in person.

A lawyer is paid whether or not the shares ever arrive. We are not: Zero advance — you pay only once the shares are credited to your demat account. Anyone can get you a certificate. We get you the shares. See how our transmission service works.

Sorting out a parent’s shares? Start with Find Your Shares →

Frequently Asked Questions

Can physical shares of a deceased person be converted to demat?
Yes, by transmission. The registrar transmits the shares to the surviving joint holder, the nominee or the legal heirs and, since 2 April 2026, credits them straight into that person’s own demat account. They are never dematerialised in the deceased person’s name.

How do I find out what shares my late father or mother held?
Start with the certificates, bank statements showing dividend credits, old dividend warrants and letters from companies. A legal heir can also register on the income tax portal and see dividends paid to the PAN in recent years. Then search the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website by PAN, name, or company and folio number, and ask each company’s registrar what the folio holds today.

Do I need a succession certificate to claim my parent’s shares?
Not for paper shares worth up to ₹10 lakh in one listed company, where no other heir disputes the claim: an affidavit-cum-NOC from all the heirs and an indemnity bond are enough. Above that, the registrar accepts a succession certificate, probate or letter of administration, or a legal heir certificate from a Tehsildar or higher authority with a notarised indemnity bond and an affidavit-cum-NOC from all the heirs.

Can I open a demat account in my late father’s name?
No. Open the demat account in your own name. The shares are transmitted to you and credited there.

How long does transmission of a deceased person’s shares take?
The registrar has 21 days from receiving a complete set of papers. Finding the holdings and getting the right papers usually takes longer than that. Shares in the IEPF take about 90 days on paper and usually much longer.

What if my parent’s shares have gone to the IEPF?
The heir files Form IEPF-5 as the claimant, with an entitlement letter from the registrar in the heir’s own name. The transmission is handled inside the claim, and the shares are credited to the heir’s demat account. There is no time limit to claim.

What if the share certificates are lost?
The shares are still traceable from the folio number, which appears on dividend warrants and bank entries. Duplicate shares are issued only in demat. If the shares are in the IEPF, no duplicate is needed, because the certificates were cancelled when the shares moved.

Does SharesRecover charge anything upfront?
No. Zero advance — you pay only once the shares are credited to your demat account. There is no token fee and no consultation fee.