West Bengal Legal Heir Certificate

Legal heir certificates are issued to determine the right legal heir on the death of the head of a family. A family member who can be the nominees of the legal heir certificate is the spouse, the children and the mother of the deceased. In this article, we look at the procedure for obtaining West Bengal legal heir certificate.

Need for the Document

When the head of the family passes away, there are situations where there are no individuals to inherit the family legacy. At the same time, a Head of the family could also have many heirs who are eligible to attain the legal heir certification. This may give rise to several conflicts and confusion within the family. As a prevention step, a certificate is issued to the right legal heir after conducting verification procedures.

Uses of the Document

Legal heir certificate is used to transfer electricity connection, house tax, telephone connection, patta transfer, bank account, etc. Moreover, on the sudden demise of a government employee, this certificate is used to sanction family pension and to get a permit on compassion grounds.

Benefits of the Certificate

Legal heir certificate helps to avail the following benefits.

To avail family pension, provident fund, etc.
To receive the insurance of the deceased.
To inherit the wealth of the deceased.
To receive other government benefits.

Required Information

Given below are the required information that has to be known about the deceased.

Name of the deceased.
Details of the family members of the deceased.
Applicant's Signature
Date of Application
Residential Address

Qualified Members

The legal heir certificate is issued only to the family members, and the applicant should carry a death certificate at the time of application.

Wife of the deceased
Husband of the deceased
Son of the deceased
Daughter of the deceased
Mother of the deceased

Documents Required

An applicant has to submit the following documents to obtain a Legal Heir Certificate.

Duly filled application form.
Death certificate
Identity card
Ration card

Application Procedure

Here are the steps to obtain a legal heir certificate in West Bengal. Step 1: Approach the Taluk Office The applicant has to visit the Tahasildar or Taluk office. An alternate option is when the applicant chooses to approach a lawyer from the District Civil Court. Step 2: Receive the application form The applicant has to obtain the application form from the concerned Tahasildar officer. Step 3: Enter the details The applicant has to enter all the required information in the application form. Step 4: Attach the documents Once all the details are entered, the applicant has to attach all the mandatory documents to the application form. Step 5: Affixing Stamp The applicant has to affix a stamp of Rs. 2 in the application form. Step 6: Submit the application The applicant has to furnish the application form to the authorized officer in the Tahasildar office. Step 7: Verification Process The application is verified by the Village Administrative Officer and Revenue Inspector. Step 8: Issuing the Certificate After completing all the verification processes, the certificate will be issued by the concerned authority mentioning all the legal heirs of the deceased.