Claim Investments of Deceased Parent: A Practical Guide for Indian Families

Claim investments of deceased parent: the overall picture

There is no single office that releases everything a parent owned. Every asset sits with a different institution: a company and its RTA for shares, a bank for deposits, an insurer for policies, an AMC for mutual funds, the post office for small savings, EPFO for provident fund. Each one pays the rightful claimant separately.

What connects them is paperwork. The same core set — death certificate, your KYC, bank details and proof of your relationship — is reused again and again. Where there is no nominee, you may also need a no-objection from the other heirs, a legal heir certificate or, for larger amounts, a succession certificate from a civil court.

How to find investments of a deceased parent

Most families discover assets slowly — a dividend warrant in a drawer, an old passbook, a letter from an unknown company. A structured search saves months. Start with what is in the house, then use the free official search tools.

• Paper trail: share certificates, passbooks, fixed deposit receipts, policy bonds, NSC/KVP certificates, annual statements and old bank statements showing dividend or interest credits.
• Bank deposits: the RBI UDGAM portal (udgam.rbi.org.in) searches unclaimed deposits across participating banks.
• Shares and dividends: the IEPF search on iepf.gov.in and the unpaid-dividend lists that companies publish on their websites.
• Mutual funds: SEBI MITRA, available through MF Central, searches inactive and unclaimed folios by PAN and other details.
• Insurance: every insurer must offer an unclaimed-amount search on its website; for LIC, use licindia.in.
• Retirement savings: old PF accounts with EPFO (epfindia.gov.in) and any NPS account through the Point of Presence or nodal office.

The Department of Financial Services also launched a common landing portal for unclaimed assets in May 2026, which points you to these regulator tools in one place.

Where the money usually is: asset-by-asset guide

Once you know what exists, each asset has its own route. Use this table to see where to go and when unclaimed money moves to a government fund.

Detailed guides for each asset:

• Transfer shares of a deceased holder through transmission and IEPF claim support for shares already moved to IEPF
• Unclaimed dividend claims
• Claim a deceased parent's bank account or deposit
• Unclaimed insurance claims
• Unclaimed mutual fund recovery and old UTI units (US-64, UTI bonds)
• Post office savings claims and SGB and RBI bond claims
• Old PF account claims and NPS death claims

Legal heir claim: nominee, joint holder or heir?

Who can claim decides how simple the process is. A surviving joint holder usually has the easiest route — the asset simply moves to their name. A nominee receives the asset with the death certificate and KYC. When there is no nominee, the legal heirs claim together, and the institution wants comfort that nobody else has a better right.

That comfort comes through an affidavit, indemnity and no-objection from other heirs for smaller amounts, and through a succession certificate or legal heir certificate for larger ones. Our guide on how to claim without a nominee explains the thresholds asset by asset.

Do you need help with this?

Yes. Every official route is free, and many families complete simple claims on their own. IEPF-5 has no filing charge, UDGAM and SEBI MITRA searches are free, and EPFO has stated that its services are free. IEPFA also runs free Niveshak Shivir investor camps and a helpline (14453).

Doing it yourself works well when there is one or two assets, a nominee is registered and all names match. It becomes harder with many folios, old physical certificates, name or signature mismatches, several heirs in different cities, or a heir who lives abroad.

Rules that changed in 2025–26

• Bank claims (RBI, 2025; banks to implement by 31 March 2026): no succession certificate up to ₹15 lakh at commercial banks and ₹5 lakh at co-operative banks; settlement within 15 calendar days of complete documents.
• Shares and MF units (SEBI, July 2026): simplified transmission up to ₹10 lakh (physical) and ₹30 lakh (demat) with affidavit-cum-NOC and indemnity; probate not mandatory on this route.
• IEPF (October 2025): a new Form IEPF-5 and an integrated claims portal with pre-filled forms and multiple folios in one claim.
• Nominations: up to four bank nominees from 1 November 2025; mandatory nomination or opt-out for single-holder demat accounts and MF folios opened on or after 1 September 2026.
• Probate: the Repealing and Amending Act 2025 omitted section 213 of the Indian Succession Act, so probate is no longer compulsory in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, though institutions may still ask for it.

How Expertvuw helps families

1. Case review: we go through what you have found and map which assets exist, who holds them and who can claim.
2. Tracing and documents: we search the official tools, contact companies, RTAs and institutions, and plan one document set that serves every claim.
3. Filing and follow-up: you remain the applicant; we prepare the filings, track each claim and respond to queries.
4. Credit: money and securities are paid only into your own bank or demat account.

Where a court certificate is needed, the petition is filed by advocates and we coordinate the documentation.

Why families choose Expertvuw

• A registered company (Expertvuw Management Pvt Ltd) with offices in Delhi and Gurugram
• Pan-India cases, plus support for NRI heirs claiming Indian assets
• One team for shares, deposits, insurance, funds and retirement savings — no need to repeat your story to five different people
• Plain-language updates and careful documentation at every stage

We are not affiliated with IEPFA, SEBI, RBI, IRDAI, EPFO, PFRDA, India Post or any court. To discuss your family's case, book an initial case review.

Related guides

• SEBI MITRA: tracing forgotten mutual fund folios
• Checking unclaimed LIC amounts
• UDGAM portal for unclaimed bank deposits

Frequently asked questions

How do I find all the investments of my deceased parent?

Start with papers at home: share certificates, passbooks, policy bonds and bank statements showing dividend or interest credits. Then use free official tools — RBI UDGAM for bank deposits, the IEPF search for shares and dividends, SEBI MITRA through MF Central for mutual funds, and each insurer's unclaimed-amount search. A PAN-based search often reveals folios the family never knew about.

Can I claim my parent's bank account without a succession certificate?

Often, yes. Under RBI directions for deceased customers' claims (banks to implement by 31 March 2026), no succession certificate is needed up to ₹15 lakh at commercial banks and ₹5 lakh at co-operative banks. You submit the claim form, death certificate, ID, indemnity and no-objection from other heirs. See our bank deposit claim guide.

How do I transfer shares of a deceased parent to my name?

The process is called transmission. A nominee or joint holder applies to the company's RTA or the depository participant with the death certificate and KYC. Without a nominee, SEBI's July 2026 framework allows simplified documents up to ₹10 lakh for physical and ₹30 lakh for demat holdings. Read more on share transmission.

Is there a time limit to claim a deceased parent's investments?

For most assets there is no hard deadline. IEPF claims have no time limit, and banks keep paying claimants even after deposits move to the RBI DEA Fund. Insurance moved to the Senior Citizens' Welfare Fund stays claimable for 25 years. Waiting still costs you, because interest can stop and records become harder to trace.

Who is the legal heir if there is no will?

Without a will, heirs are decided by the personal succession law that applied to your parent. In practice, institutions ask for a legal heir certificate from the state revenue department or, for larger amounts, a succession certificate from a civil court. Our page on succession and legal heir certificates explains the difference.

Do I need to pay anyone to claim my parent's investments?

No. Every official route is free, and many families complete simple claims themselves. Help is optional and most useful when there are many assets, old physical certificates, name mismatches or heirs living abroad. Be cautious of calls offering refunds on old policies; IRDAI has warned the public about such fake calls.

Can Expertvuw claim the money on our behalf?

No. You, as the nominee or legal heir, remain the applicant, and the money is paid only into your own bank or demat account. Expertvuw prepares documents, coordinates with institutions and follows up. Where a court petition is needed, it is filed by advocates while we coordinate the paperwork.