How to Transmit Shares of a Deceased Holder in India

To transmit shares of a deceased holder you do not file a transfer deed. You prove two facts to the registrar or the depository participant: that the holder has died, and that you are entitled to the securities. Which documents establish the second fact depends on three things, namely whether a nomination was registered, whether the holding was single or joint, and what the securities are worth. This page sets out the document set for each route, using SEBI's own ready reckoner.

Step 1: before you transmit shares of a deceased holder, find the folio

To transmit shares of a deceased holder you first have to know where the record sits. Before assembling anything, establish which registrar services the company and what state the folio is in. An incomplete folio, missing PAN, KYC or nomination, will stall the claim regardless of how good the succession documents are. The lookup route is in how to check RTA and folio details.

For a demat holding the counterparty is the depository participant, not the registrar. For physical certificates it is the registrar or the issuer company.

Step 2: identify which of the three routes applies

The nominee route is deliberately light because SEBI treats the nominee as a trustee for the legal heirs rather than as the beneficial owner. What that means in practice is covered in what is transmission of securities.

Step 3: assemble the documents for your route

Nomination registered (paragraph 21.4.2):

1. Transmission request form, duly signed by the nominee, in the format at Annexure 16.
2. Original death certificate, or a copy attested by the nominee subject to verification against the original, or a copy attested by a notary public or gazetted officer.
3. Self-attested copy of the nominee's PAN card.
4. Original security certificates, where the holding is physical.
5. Birth certificate and the guardian's KYC, where the nominee is a minor or of unsound mind.

No nomination registered (paragraph 21.4.3):

Everything above, filed by the legal heirs or claimants instead of a nominee, plus:

6. A notarised affidavit from all legal heirs on non-judicial stamp paper of appropriate value, establishing identity and claim of legal ownership, in the format at Annexure 17. Where the claimants are already named in a succession certificate, probate of will, will, letter of administration or legal heirship certificate, an affidavit from those claimants alone is sufficient.
7. A copy of one of: a succession certificate, probate of will, a will accompanied by a notarised indemnity bond in the format at Annexure 18, a letter of administration, a court decree, or a legal heirship certificate or equivalent accompanied by both a notarised indemnity bond and a no objection letter from all non-claimants in the format at Annexure 19.

Step 4: check whether the small-value route is open to you

This is the provision most claimants do not know exists, and it removes the hardest document from the list.

Where the value of securities is up to 5 lakh rupees per listed entity in physical mode, or up to 15 lakh rupees per beneficial owner in demat mode, measured as on the date of the claimant's application, and the Annexure 14 serial number 9 documents are not available, the claimant may instead submit:

• a notarised indemnity bond on non-judicial stamp paper of appropriate value, in the format at Annexure 18, indemnifying the share transfer agent or listed entity; and
• a no objection certificate from all legal heirs in the format at Annexure 19, or a copy of a family settlement deed executed by all the legal heirs, attested by a notary public or gazetted officer.

The listed entity may, at its discretion, raise the 5 lakh rupee threshold for physical holdings. It cannot lower it.

Where a copy of a will is submitted, the RTA master circular requires a notarised indemnity bond from the beneficiary of the will in the Annexure 18 format, in terms of the Indian Succession Act, 1925.

Step 5: file it, and hold the registrar to the timelines

Two deadlines are on the record. The RTA investor charter sets an expected 21 days for processing a transmission request. And for a deceased holder's physical securities held in a single name, the RTA or issuer must, after verifying the documents, transmit them directly into the claimant's demat account and intimate the claimant within 30 days of receiving the request. That direct-to-demat rule comes from SEBI circular HO/38/13/(3)2026-MIRSD-POD/I/3763/2026 dated 30 January 2026, so a claimant should not be issued a fresh physical certificate.

One more protection is worth quoting at a registrar that keeps coming back with fresh queries: SEBI requires the RTA to raise all objections in one instance only, and to seek additional information only where there is an actual deficiency or discrepancy in what was furnished.

After the transmission goes through

Confirm the credit on your own record rather than on the registrar's letter. The holding statement is where a transmitted holding should appear, and a consolidated account statement will show it alongside everything else held on the same PAN.

To transmit shares of a deceased holder efficiently, then, the order of work is: locate the folio, decide which of the three routes applies, check the 5 lakh and 15 lakh thresholds before paying for a succession certificate, and file the complete set in one go.

Flock reports the filings themselves, each one dated and linked to its source. What any disclosure means for your money is your call to make. Not investment advice.