Succession Certificate for Shares

A legal heir certificate is issued by a local revenue authority (Tehsildar, SDM, or Municipal Corporation) and merely identifies who the surviving heirs of the deceased are. Unlike a succession certificate, it is not issued by a court, does not grant authority to collect or transfer assets, and is rarely accepted alone for shares transmission — particularly for larger holdings or IEPF claims.

In limited cases, for smaller shares holdings, some companies may accept a legal heir certificate paired with an indemnity bond and affidavit. However, for large holdings, IEPF claims, and most RTAs, a court-issued succession certificate is mandatory. SEBI guidelines and individual company policies vary — confirming the requirement for your specific folio before starting any process is strongly advisable.

A succession certificate typically takes 3 to 8 months, depending on the District Court’s caseload, the complexity of the estate, and whether any objections are filed. The timeline includes filing the petition, the mandatory 30–45 day public notice period, attending hearings, and paying court fees before the certificate is issued.

Yes. When claiming shares or unclaimed dividends transferred to the IEPF on behalf of a deceased shareholder, IEPF authorities treat a succession certificate as a mandatory document. Without it, IEPF will not process the IEPF-5 claim in favour of the legal heirs of the deceased.

Yes. If the deceased shareholder had a registered nominee on record with the company or demat account, the nominee can claim the shares using only the death certificate and KYC. A court succession certificate is not required. However, the nominee holds the shares as a trustee for the legal heirs and must ultimately distribute them according to applicable personal law.

Without a will, the legal heirs must obtain a succession certificate from a civil court. Once issued, it is submitted to the company’s RTA along with the death certificate, KYC documents, the SH-7 transmission form, and an indemnity bond. The RTA then initiates transmission of shares to the heirs’ demat accounts. Stamp duty is not applicable on shares transmission, unlike a regular transfer.

Court fees are calculated as a percentage of the total value of assets mentioned in the certificate and vary by state — typically between 2% and 3% of the asset value, subject to state-specific ceilings. Advocate fees are separate and depend on the complexity of the petition. Our team can provide a clearer cost estimate once we review your specific case.

Yes. NRI legal heirs must typically obtain an Indian succession certificate issued by a District Court to claim shares held in India. The petition can be filed through a Power of Attorney holder in India. The certificate is then valid for submission to Indian RTAs, companies, and IEPF authorities. Our firm handles NRI succession and shares recovery cases regularly.

Shares transfer is a voluntary act during the shareholder’s lifetime — a sale or gift. Shares transmission occurs by operation of law upon death, lunacy, or insolvency of the holder. Crucially, transmission is exempt from stamp duty under the Companies Act, 2013, whereas a standard transfer is not. The process to effect transmission requires submission of legal heir documentation (succession certificate or nomination) to the RTA.

Form SH-7 is the standardised application for transmission of shares from a deceased holder to the legal heirs. It is submitted to the RTA along with the succession certificate or nominee credentials, death certificate, and KYC documents. Some companies use their own proprietary transmission forms instead — the RTA or company registrar will confirm which form applies to your folio.

Yes. A succession certificate covering shares also covers unpaid dividends on those shares. Once transmission is processed, the company releases dividend arrears to the heirs. If dividends have already been transferred to IEPF, the heir must file Form IEPF-5 separately, which also requires the succession certificate.

A succession certificate does not expire — once granted by the court, it is a permanent legal document. However, RTAs may ask for a recently court-certified copy, particularly if the original was issued many years ago. The certified copy must be authenticated by the court that originally granted it.

A single heir can apply for a succession certificate even when other heirs exist. The court will issue notice to all other known legal heirs. If no valid objections are raised, the certificate may be granted to the petitioner. However, it is essential to disclose all known legal heirs accurately in the petition to avoid future legal disputes over distribution.

Yes — and it is advisable to do so. Including all known shares folios and other movable assets in a single petition is more efficient and cost-effective than filing separate petitions for each company. The succession certificate will list all assets and their approximate values, and you can use the same certified copy to approach multiple RTAs or IEPF.

Physical shares certificates are handled slightly differently. Along with the succession certificate and transmission documents, the original physical share certificates must be submitted to the RTA. The RTA cancels the physical certificates and either issues new ones in the heir’s name or converts them directly to demat form. SEBI has mandated demat of shares for all transactions, so direct demat transfer is the preferred outcome. SharesRecover handles both physical certificate recovery and the conversion process.

SharesRecover (One Trillion Advisory Pvt. Ltd.) provides end-to-end assistance: our in-house lawyers guide the succession certificate petition process, our recovery team liaises with RTAs, companies, and the IEPF authority, and we handle the final shares transmission into your demat account. We work on a success-fee model — you pay a success fee only when shares are successfully recovered. We handle pan-India cases as well as NRI succession and recovery matters.