In the course of last several years we have come across innumerable instances wherein after the demise of one’s parents our clients (i.e. children of the deceased members) are at a loss dealing with paperwork concerning property, bank, locker, filing of income tax (if applicable), closure of pension account and so on and so forth. This becomes particularly challenging if they happen to stay abroad.
On the basis of Porosh’s experience we wish to mention tying-up all the looses ends call for enormous patience. None of the above-mentioned issues will get resolved in a jiffy. Several rounds have to be made to different institutions over multiple days. One may find a few guiding points to be useful:
a) First and foremost, several copies of the Death Certificate (DC) should be kept handy. One may even be asked to show the original copy on case-to-case basis.
b) Multiple sets of Aadhaar and PAN cards of the deceased and self to be kept ready. The documents related to oneself should be self-attested.
c) For the purpose of bank account if one is a joint account holder, then an application (and DC) has to be made to the branch manager seeking one to be made the first account holder. Ditto for locker as well unless advised otherwise.
d) If one is not a nominee with respect to banker account and / or locker, then along with application (& DC) one has to submit photocopy/ scanned copy of any document through which it can be proved that one is son/ daughter of the deceased individual. For example, passport contains the name of mother and hence it can be considered a valid document for further processing.
e) For the purpose of closure of bank account and / or locker one has to follow the same process as mentioned in point (d). Same holds good for closing pension account and credit of accrued amount to one’s own account on submission of a cancelled cheque bearing one’s own name.
f) Concerning property, the first step is to get property tax cleared. Thereafter, prepare a couple of sets of original land and/ or property related documents photocopied. It should be followed by securing the Mutation Certificate through a legal expert. The entire process may take 15 to 30 days.
g) Once the Mutation Certificate is received you become the legal heir of the property and can thus put on rent or sell the property.
h) If there is no Will, or Deed of Gift (registered), then the issue of property may become particularly messy if there are multiple claimants. In that case one has no option other than approaching a legal expert.
i) With respect to LIC policy a copy of the death certificate, Aadhaar and PAN cards of the policyholder and the applicant along with a cancelled cheque of the latter has to be submitted. One must remember that any amount due to be paid after the death of individual shall not paid and even payment of interest on prorate basis (for annuity) shall be withheld. For example, if the policyholder dies three months before the interest on annuity (paid on a yearly basis) is due than even 75% amount of annuity will not be paid.
We hope the points mentioned above have offered a fairly comprehensive perspective to deal with various aspects that one is likely to confront after the demise of either of the parents, or both. However, different institutions may follow their respective SOPs which may not exactly match the procedures mentioned above. It may vary institution-wise.
Needless to add, one can always reach-out to Porosh for any assistance under similar circumstances.
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