Application for a Legal Heir Certificate (Warisan Certificate)

No. This certificate is an administrative record used to move a pension, a utility connection or an allotment. A succession certificate is a court order under section 372 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, granted by the District Judge, and it is what actually covers debts and securities — bank deposits, shares, bonds and debentures. Ask the bank or depository in writing which of the two they will accept before you spend weeks on the wrong one.

The office for the place where the deceased actually last resided, not the office nearest the property being claimed. In Punjab that is the Tehsildar of the tehsil or the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of the sub-division; in Chandigarh it is the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, with the file moving through the Deputy Commissioner's office via e-Sampark. An application filed in the wrong tehsil is returned for want of jurisdiction, and the clock starts again.

Disclose it rather than hide it. This application has a place for exactly that: name the heir, and record how and when they were told, so the sworn no-dispute statement stays accurate. Do not sign on that heir's behalf and do not drop their name from the schedule to make the paperwork tidy — leaving out an heir is the single most common reason a certificate is cancelled years later, undoing every transfer made on the strength of it. The office can still proceed after hearing the objector, but the application is no longer treated as uncontested and may take longer than the notified time limit.

No. It only records who the legal heirs are. Transferring an allotment, moving a jamabandi entry, or releasing a bank balance is always a separate, later step at the relevant office or bank, on that office's own checklist and fee — this certificate is what that later step asks to see, not the transfer itself.

A minor heir is still named in the schedule, but cannot sign anything — the natural guardian signs the no-objection on the minor's behalf and is named as guardian in the application. An heir living abroad can swear the required affidavit before an Indian consular officer, or before a notary abroad with an apostille under the 1961 Hague Convention, and post the original rather than a scan.

Not an instrument of transfer — no ad valorem duty, cess or registration fee; it is not among the 11 priced instruments on Punjab's table.

Punjab counter cost: the office form with a fixed Schedule II, Court Fees Act, 1870 stamp; Annexure A affidavit with a fixed Article 4, Schedule I-A duty (deponent's own name; ask the vendor the current denomination — the table is undated). Filing via a Sewa Kendra adds its own facilitation charge and two extra Right-to-Service days.

Chandigarh's published numbers: "green sheet" plus Rs 1.25 court fee, an attested affidavit on Rs 5 stamp paper, the death certificate original, and (for service claims) a department letter to the DC's office, plus six-month residence proof. e-Sampark service charge Rs 50, stated time 20 working days.

Two unrelated stamp-buying thresholds in Chandigarh: online e-Stamp is capped at Rs 500 for citizens; physical vendors serve up to Rs 50,000, the Central Treasury (State Bank of India, Sector 17) above that.

The duty that actually bites comes later, on the instrument dividing or transferring what is inherited. Punjab: sale/gift 5% plus 1% cess, 1% registration fee (capped Rs 2,00,000), 1% PIDB, plus tiered facilitation charges of Rs 1,000-5,000. Chandigarh: sale/gift/conveyance 5% (portals say 6%, unconfirmed — verify at the Sub-Registrar, 30 Bays Building, Sector 17), 1% registration (capped Rs 10,000) plus Rs 20 pasting; a blood-relation transfer is exempt, a family settlement is 2%. Chandigarh Collector rates (1 April 2026-31 March 2027): Sectors 1-12 Rs 2,37,900 per square yard, 14-37 Rs 1,81,300, 38 onwards Rs 1,33,200.

Neither the application nor the certificate is registrable — s.17 doesn't reach a revenue-officer application, and s.18 optional registration adds nothing; it's an administrative record, not a title document.

What follows depends on jurisdiction. Punjab village/agricultural land: the certificate isn't operative — the MUTATION is (s.34, PLRA; s.34(3) duty to enter even unreported), validated by the Field Kanungo, sanctioned by the CRO (fee Rs 600 + Rs 200 pasting). Report death within 3 months (s.39: fine up to 5x the fee). Mutations ordered by 15 June enter the new jamabandi (para 7.56); also raisable online at jamabandi.punjab.gov.in.

Punjab authority land (GMADA etc.): the certificate goes in WITH the transfer application at the estate branch — 45 days, wanting the death certificate, a liability affidavit and photo ID from every heir, mortgage clearance, and the certificate (or the Councillor/Sarpanch/Group A affidavit alternative); fee revised each 1 April. A will or disagreement sends the authority to probate instead.

Chandigarh sector property: no Punjab-style mutation — the Estate Officer's allotment file is the record, transmission applied for at the Estate Office. Auto-mutation (since 2025) triggers only off a REGISTERED DEED, not a death — apply regardless. Following RWA v. UT Chandigarh (SC, 10 Jan 2023), the 10 Feb 2023 Public Notice permits in-family transfers but STOPS others pending a Heritage Committee decision — ask if that freeze still runs. Rule 16 bars fragmenting a site. A Housing Board flat instead goes to the Board (25 working days).

Time limits on the CERTIFICATE: Punjab — Tehsildar/SDM decides, SDM first appeal, DC second; 15 working days. Chandigarh — 20 working days per e-Sampark. Keep the dated, numbered acknowledgement; the clock runs only from a COMPLETE application.

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No attesting witnesses are required, for the application or the affidavit — the jurat authenticates. The will's s.63/s.67 and the gift's ss.122-123 rules belong elsewhere.

What the counter wants is IDENTIFICATION: rural Punjab — the Lambardar, Sarpanch or a Panch; urban Punjab and Chandigarh — a ward Councillor or gazetted officer; a Group A officer everywhere. Two identifiers, with names, parentage, address, signature; never one who takes a share under this certificate.

Expect a local enquiry and a possible public notice; attend, carry originals.

Annexure B is a no-objection, not a relinquishment. Part 1: heirs who sign; Part 2: any heir told but not signing, matching paragraph 8(d). NEVER sign Part 1 for someone else, and never drop a name from Schedule I to solve a missing signature — the commonest reason a certificate is cancelled years later. A share is given up only by a separate, duty-bearing, registrable instrument (s.17(1)(b); s.49). A later Chandigarh deed registration needs two witnesses, the first qualifying under paragraph 127, Punjab Registration Manual.