Last updated: February 4th, 2023 8:03 PM

Legal Heir Certificate in Kerala

Legal heir certificate is an important document that helps identify the heirs or surviving family members of a deceased person. Legal heir certificate can be used to claim the assets and other resources of a deceased person. Revenue Officers such as Tahsildar, or Revenue Mandal Officer issue legal heir certificates in Kerala. In case the legal heir certificate is not accepted for any claim, succession certificate has to be obtained through a court of law. In this article, we look at the procedure to obtain a Legal Heir Certificate in Kerala.

Legal Heir Certificate Vs Succession Certificate

Legal heir and succession certificate appear to have a common objective, but the certificates are not the same.

Succession Certificate

Succession certificate is a document that is issued by a Civil Court in India. Succession Certificate is granted to the legal heirs of a deceased person who dies without leaving a will. The main aim of a succession certificate is to facilitate the collection of debts on succession and afford protection to the parties paying debts to the representatives of the deceased person. Succession certificate merely allows its holder to collect the debt due to the deceased as a trustee for the other claimant. Succession certificate can be granted for below-listed purposes to which the deceased was entitled:

• Provident fund
• Insurance
• Deposits in banks
• Shares

Know more about Succession certificate

Legal Heir Certificate

Legal heir certificate is an important document to determine the appropriate legal heir of a deceased person. It serves to identify the relationship of the heirs to the deceased person. If a person dies, family advantages (pension or property) will go to the next legitimate heirs. In such cases, rightful heirs need to obtain Legal Heir Certificate, to claim these advantages.

Uses of Legal Heir Certificate

Legal Heir certificate is necessary for below-mentioned purposes in Kerala:

Transfers

• To transfer the electricity connection in the name of legal heir
• House tax transfer
• Telephone connection transfer
• To change diseased person’s bank account to a family member

Government Benefits

If the person died as a Government Servant, then this Certificate can be used for the following purposes:

• Insurance claims
• Retirement benefit claims
• Pension claims
• Provident fund claims
• Gratuity claim

Property Transfer

Legal heir certificate is mainly used for acquiring the inheritance of the property, which is left behind by the deceased person. This document is used to determine the appropriate legitimate heir for the ownership of a property on the sudden demise of the registered owner.  During property registration in Kerala, the seller needs to produce a legal heir certificate to the buyer to ascertain the ownership of the property being sold. Not verifying property legal heir certificates while purchasing ancestral property can lead to litigations in the future.

Eligibility for Legal Heir Certificate

The following person can apply for a legal heir certificate in Kerala:

• Parents of the deceased person
• Spouse of the deceased person
• Children of the deceased Person
• Siblings of the deceased Person

Documents Required

To obtain a legal heir certificate in Kerala the attachment of the following documents along with the application are necessary:

• Death certificate of Deceased
• Aadhaar Card and Voters ID
• Ration Card
• Service certificate issued by the department head (Applicable to serving employee)
• Pensioner payment slip in case of a pensioner

Time Frame

Legal Heir Certificate will be issued within 15 days after the time limit (30 days) for any objection from the date of Gazette publishes.

The validity of Legal Heir Certificate

Legal Heir Certificate is valid for a lifetime.

Applicable Fee

The fee to obtain a Legal heir certificate in Kerala is provided below:

Fee for Offline

Rs.2 rupee stamp needs to be affixed with the application. SC or ST family exempted for this fee.

Akshaya Centre Fee for Legal Heir certificate

To apply through Akshaya Centre, a payment of Rs.28 is necessary. This amount includes Akshaya Service charge, Government service charge for Certificate, scanning and printing of the document. SC or ST families need to pay only Rs.12 for application and the fee for BPL family is Rs.20.

Fee for e-District Online Application

To apply Legal heir certificate online through the e-District Kerala portal, a payment of Rs.15 is necessary.

Applying for Legal Heir Certificate

Follow the below-mentioned steps to apply for a legal heir certificate through the offline method: Step 1: The applicant needs to visit the concerned Tahsildar office. Step 2: Get an application form from the office. [pdf-embedder url="https://www.indiafilings.com/learn/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/LEGAL-HEIRSHIP-CERTIFICATE-–-6c-English.pdf" title="LEGAL HEIRSHIP CERTIFICATE – 6c (English)"] Step 3: Duly fill the application affix a court fees stamp of Rs.2. Note: SC or ST need not pay this fee Step 4: Attach all required documents along with the application, submit to the office. The issuance of the certificate takes place after the processing.

Apply Legal Heir Certificate through Akshaya Centre

Procedure to apply Legal Heir certificate through Akshaya Center is below: Step 1: Visit the Akshaya Service Centre in the locality. Step 2:  The applicant can make an application for a legal heir certificate online through Akshaya Service Centre. Step 3:  Submit all required documents as mentioned above to upload online. The request for income certificate will be forwarded to the concern department head. Note: The applicant will get the application number through SMS to the registered mobile number. Keep it safe for future purpose. Step 4: The concerned Department will process the legal heir certificate application, and after successful verification, the authorized Tahsildar will issue the certificate by digitally signing it. Step 5:  Once the certificate is approved, SMS regarding the status of the application will be sent to the registered mobile number. Step 6:  After receiving the approved message, revisit any Akshaya centre. Step 6: Provide the application number to Akshaya service, Get a printed copy of the electronic legal heir certificate.

Apply Legal Heir Certificate through Online e-District

Steps for applying legal heir certificate online through Kerala e-district is below: Step 1: Log on to the e-District webpage

Log in to the Portal

Step 2: To avail certificate services, the applicant needs to register in this portal. If they are a registered user log on to the site by entering username and password. Step 3: For new user registration, click on new portal user creation link in the home page and enter all mandatory details. Image 1 Legal Heir Certificate Kerala Step 4: Click on one-time registration, this is to find out if the applicant has already registered any Akshaya centres. Image 2 Legal Heir Certificate Kerala Step 5: Once the duplicate check is over, click on the submit button.

Fill Details

Step 6: Enter e-District register number and select certificate type as legal heritage certificate and enter the purpose of applying Certificate. Step 7: Enter the name and select ‘self’ option under relationship tap from the drop-down menu. Step 8: Save all entered details. The applicant will reach the documents uploading section.

Upload Documents

Step 9: Upload all mandatory documents. The applicant can attach only PDF files (Maximum 100 KB). The fee for income certificate will appear on the screen.

Make Payment and Generate Receipt

Step 10: The applicant can pay the fee by any of the following modes:

• Cash-card prepaid
• Wallets
• IMPS
• Net banking
• Debit card payment
• Credit Card Payment

Step 11: After made payment. Take a print out of receipt and application form for future purpose.

Download Legal Heir Certificate

Status of the application process will be updated on the transaction history tab in Kerala e-District portal. The applicant will also get SMS regarding the status of the Legal heir certificate application. Step 12: After getting the issued Certificate SMS on the mobile number, login into e-District for downloading the Certificate. Download the digitally signed Legal Heir certificate and take a print out.