Documents Needed to Apply for Probate in India

To apply for probate in India the core documents are the original will, the death certificate of the testator, the probate petition with the executor's verification, an affidavit of valuation of the estate, identity, age and address proof of the petitioner and the heirs, and the court fee on the value of the estate. Where the will is registered you must also produce the registration particulars; where it was executed abroad you must produce the authenticated or apostilled original; and where legatees are minors or the estate includes immovable property, further papers follow. Missing even one of these returns the file.

This note lists what a probate petition needs, explains why each document is asked for, and flags the ones most often forgotten. A file assembled in the right order and properly sworn saves at least one adjournment, and often two, because the defects a court notices first are the missing signature, the missing valuation and the missing translation.

The documents at a glance

The table is the skeleton. The sections below explain each item and the ones that sit around it. Each item is tied to a purpose, and knowing the purpose makes it easier to answer an objection at the counter rather than returning with the same papers.

The will, in its original and, if registered, with particulars

The petition must be founded on the actual will, so the original must be produced. Where the will was registered, the registered copy and its particulars are also required, and registration makes the document easier to prove because an official record already exists. If the original is lost or was not produced from the deceased's custody, the petitioner must explain the loss and may have to satisfy the court by secondary evidence, which means producing a certified copy, a photocopy kept with the testator's papers, or the draft from which the will was engrossed, together with evidence of the circumstances.

A will kept in a bank locker, in a lawyer's custody or in a court deposit is recovered and produced with the proper application. Where the will names codicils, each is treated as part of the will and each must be produced, because a codicil is a separate testamentary instrument that alters the original.

Proof of death and of the family

The death certificate issued by the registrar of births and deaths, or by the local body, establishes the date of death, which matters because the will speaks from death. Alongside it, the petitioner must set out the family: the spouse, children and other heirs, with their ages and addresses. The ages matter because a minor heir changes the procedure, requiring a guardian and a possible reference to a next friend, and because the shares of the heirs depend on who was alive at the death.

Where the petitioner claims to be the executor, the appointment in the will is the proof of that status. Where the petitioner is a legatee or a residuary legatee applying because no executor can act, that basis has to be shown as well. A clear family tree, drawn on the petitioner's own statement, helps the court see at a glance who is affected and who must be served or given notice.

The petition and the affidavit of valuation

The petition and its verification are the documents that start the case, and the Indian Succession Act, 1925 sets out what they must contain. The petition names the testator, gives the date of death, describes the will, lists the heirs with their ages and addresses, states the property and its value, and asks for probate to be granted to the executor. The affidavit of valuation is separate: it sets out the assets and their value, and it is this value that determines the court fee. Under the Court-fees Act, 1870 the fee in a probate matter is charged on the value of the estate, so the valuation must be prepared honestly and with papers to support it, because an under-valuation invites an objection and a revaluation, and a revaluation costs both money and time.

Sworn statements, translations and supporting affidavits

Because a probate petition is verified and supported by affidavits, the papers must be sworn in the manner the court requires. Any document that is not in English, such as a will written in Bengali, Hindi or another language, must be accompanied by a sworn translation so that the court can read it as a whole. Where the original is in a language the petitioner understands but the court's record does not, the certified translation is prepared and filed with the petition rather than later.

Supporting affidavits are also used to prove matters of which the petitioner has personal knowledge: that the testator signed the will in the deponent's presence, that the testator was of sound mind, and that no later will exists to the deponent's knowledge. These are the statements on which the genuineness of the will rests if the matter is contested, so they should be drawn carefully rather than treated as a formality.

Where the petition is filed

In West Bengal a probate petition may be filed in the district court having jurisdiction or, where the value and the facts bring it there, on the Original Side of the Calcutta High Court, which has its own rules of procedure and its own forms. For estates within Kolkata below the threshold, the District Judge's court and the City Civil Court at Kolkata are the usual fora; for a death with assets in several districts, the petition goes where the deceased had a fixed place of residence or where the relevant property lies. Choosing the wrong court, or the wrong side of the same court, costs a re-filing, so the forum should be settled before the papers are drawn.

Documents that concern immovable property

Where the estate includes land or a flat, produce the title deed or the conveyance by which the deceased held it, the latest municipal or property tax receipt, and, where available, the record from Banglarbhumi, the state land-record portal, showing the entry. A society's share certificate and no-dues certificate should be added where the flat is in a co-operative or apartment association, and a rent or tenancy document is relevant if the property is let out.

These papers establish the extent and the identity of the property in the valuation, and they pre-empt the questions the court asks when the grant is later used for mutation, because whatever the petitioner does not establish now is revisited then. Where the property is jointly held or is the subject of a pending civil dispute, bring the relevant record so that the court is not later surprised.

The documents most often forgotten

• The independent witness to prove the will, or an affidavit of an attesting witness who can be produced.
• The affidavit of valuation separate from the petition, with supporting value papers.
• Proof of age for a minor heir, and the guardian's consent where a minor is involved.
• For a will executed abroad, the notarial authentication and the apostille or consular attestation.
• Sworn translations of any will or document that is not in English.
• The no-objection or consent of heirs where the family is agreed, which smooths the citation stage.
• The court fee receipt and the treasury challan, in the form the particular court requires.

When you need letters of administration instead

If the will names an executor who has died or who declines to act, the family may seek letters of administration with the will annexed, and if there is no will at all, letters of administration on intestacy. The documentary bundle is largely the same, with the addition of proof that no executor can act, such as a renunciation or a death record. Where the estate is small, a legal heir certificate or a succession certificate may serve instead, but neither substitutes for probate where probate is compulsory.

For the surrounding steps see how a will is made in the will format and validity notes, who gets notice after filing and whether there is a time limit to apply. To have the papers prepared and filed in Kolkata, see the services page.