1) if your father left a will apply for probate of will

2) it does not take more than 6 months

3) maximum court fees is Rs 75000

4) legal fees vary depending upon the lawyer engaged by you

1) You will get money once you have Legal heir ship and Succession certificate from court.

POA ceases on death of principal

Apply for probate of will

Hi, you have to obtain a legal heir certificate from court to claim the funds...

If father died intestate and left only movable assets you need to apply for succession certificate from HC or district court having jurisdiction

2) you are only nominee of fundslying in bank account

3) bank can on basis of NOC of your mother and other legal heirs release funds to you on basis of indemnity bond furnished by you

1. If any of the legal heirs opposes the bank can not release the fund of the deceased .

2. In that event production of Probate or Succession certificate is only option.

3. If any of the legal heirs again raises objection then POA of the deceased is also not enough.

4. In this case even his signature is not missing then the Bank is right in refusing to accept the POA.

5. So either bring consent of all his legal heirs or produce probate/Succession certificate to get his money back.

Hi

1) It appears that there might be a claim (in addition to your claim) on the POD account.

2) The banks are duty bound to release the money to the beneficiary named in the POD account as Claiming a POD account is a straightforward process.

2a) The beneficiary(you) will go to the bank holding the account and present a copy of principal account holder's(your dad's) death certificate. All that the bank requires is your valid Identification card and d fill out transfer forms.

2b) Some states have a short waiting period, but otherwise the beneficiary can claim the funds immediately

2c) Also since POD accounts are Transfer-on-death, or TOD, account( Totten trust) these are NOT under any probate process etc unless and until there are more claimants than one.

3) So kindly approach the bank again with the documents and find out the grounds on which the bank is asking for Probate despite you being named the beneficiary under POD by your father.

4) You have the right to sue the bank in USA, If the bank is not honouring the POD account opened by your father.

5) Power of attorney will not be valid once the principal (your father) has passed away. .

.

to get the amount from bank neither will nor probate is required. the durable POA and your identity is also not sufficient for the same. you have to present a disclaimer affidavit of your siblings in your favour alongwith heirship and indemnity bond to the bank for getting the amount.

It will be great if you will be more specific that in US which state you are living and which bank is asking all these details.

1. No body can authorise you to use the ATM card of your late father's bank account. the said act is illegal. Do not admit it any where.

2. Unless the said account is held in joint name with you, succession certificate shall have to be avaikled by you from the Court in absence of probate of a will executed by your deceased father.

1. Power of Attorney becomes invalid after the demise of its executor.

2. The said POA executed by your father has become invalid after his demise.

1. You shall have to submit the succession certificate to claim the remains in the bank account of your deceased father.

2. Apply for the Succession Ceryificate at tghe earliest detailing all his moveable assets/properties like amounts left in Bank account, FDs, MFs etc.

Dear Sir,

Normally the bank people do not want to take risk by releasing amount to legal heirs on production of insufficient documents to get hassle free release of the amount you may get Succession certificate under section 372 of Indian Succession Act but it is expensive and also time consuming.

Process for getting succession certificate simplified

in case of death of a person without leaving a will, court may grant succession certificate in order to realise securities or debts of the deceased. A civil court issues succession certificate to the legal heirs of a deceased person.

It is required to establish the authenticity of the heirs. Also to authorize them to get assets or securities transferred in their names. Not to forget that assets comes with liabilities as such it also enables inheritance ofdebts. This is issued on the application from the beneficiary, to court as per laws of inheritance. It is necessary, though may not be always sufficient, to release or transfer the assets. For these letter of administration, no-objection certificates and death certificate is also required.

Application: As discussed earlier also, a petition is required to be filed with the competent jurisdiction where the assets are located.

Details: The application requires details like

– name of petitioner

– relationship with deceased

– names of all heirs of the deceased

– time, date and place of death

Also a copy of the death certificate is required to be produced.

Fees: A fixed percentage of the value of the estate is levied as fee for issuance of the certificate by the court. This fee is to be paid in the form of judicial stamp papers of the said amount. Only after this a the certificate is issued. Also, the lawyer will also charging their fees.

Process: The notice in the newspapers for a given period (generally 45 days) is issued by the court. In case where no one contests the petition on or before the expiry of given period, the court sanctions the order for issuance of succession certificate.

If the petition is not contested, the court usually issues a succession certificate in five to seven months.

Looking at the process, it is always better to write a will or appoint a nominee in all your financial accounts like stocks, saving accounts, fixed deposits or mutual funds etc. The nomination may also be filed with yourproperties ownership.

Section 372 in The Indian Succession Act, 1925

372 Application for certificate. —

(1) Application for such a certificate shall be made to the District Judge by a petition signed and verified by or on behalf of the applicant in the manner prescribed by the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) for the signing and verification of a plaint by or on behalf of a plaintiff, and setting forth the following particulars, namely:—

(a) the time of the death of the deceased;

(b) the ordinary residence of the deceased at the time of his death and, if such residence was not within the local limits of the jurisdiction of the Judge to whom the application is made, then the property of the deceased within those limits;

(c) the family or other near relatives of the deceased and their respective residences;

(d) the right in which the petitioner claims;

(e) the absence of any impediment under section 370 or under any other provision of this Act or any other enactment, to the grant of the certificate or to the validity thereof if it were granted; and

(f) the debts and securities in respect of which the certificate is applied for.

(2) If the petition contains any averment which the person verifying it knows or believes to be false, or does not believe to be true, that person shall be deemed to have committed an offence under section 198 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (45 of 1860).

56 [(3) Application for such a certificate may be made in respect of any debt or debts due to the deceased creditor or in respect of portions thereof.]

You can not withdraw any amount from a deceased’s bank account and shouldn’t too even if you yave a signed cheque or the debit card with pin. You should inform the bank about the death preferably in writing and submit a copy of the death certificate. Bank will freeze the account and issue application for claiming the balance by nominee or legal heirs depending on whether nomination has been given by the deceased or not. Claim from nominee will be settled easily but if there is no nomination then all legal heirs have to submit the relevant application and balance in the account will be paid in accordance with the laws of succession of the religion of the deceased.

Succession certificate has to be obtained for accessing deceased fathers property. Further though bank can release same by verifying and taking a indemnity bond without the succession certificate.

POA is not valid after death of the father.

No will is not compulsory if will is not there a succession certificate has to be obtained for the movable assets.

1. if you are the nominee appointed by your deceased father in the bank records for his account then bank is required to release the funds to you on production of death certificate and ID proof

2. you do not need any Will of your father for this

3. you as a nominee will get all the funds lying to the credit of your dad's account but you wont become its absolute owner

4. you will have to hold these funds as a trustee for all the other legal heirs of your father

5. however you can deal with your share in the funds as you are also one of the legal heirs

Is there a will left behind by your deceased father organizing the distribution of his assets, both movables and immovable in the manner he desired it to be done?

In the absence of any Will, there is no question of probate nor a letter of administration.

Under such circumstances, the bank will ascertain the legal heirs or successors in interest to succeed to the estates including movable assets of the deceased to disburse the same accordingly.

Therefore you may have to produce the succession certificate from a court of law, which will take a very long time, alternately, you can indemnity bond indemnifying the bank against all the losses or damages due to this disbursement, which should be signed by all the legal heirs of the deceased including your mother, and the the other legal heirs have to give a separate NOC in your favor so that the amount can be paid to you directly and also you may prepare a family tree certificate, get it notarised before a notary in the local to substantiate your claim for the number of legal heirs and its genuineness.

I also had a notarized durable power of Attorney for my Dad's finances that the bank did not honor due to a missing signature. My 83 yo Dad used his iniitials for all his financial matters. I presented this 2 days after his death.

You should understand the fact and law that the power of attorney deed becomes infructuous or automatically cancelled on the death of the principal hence it has no value after his death, hence do not try to utilise the power of attorney deed at this stage.

My Father did not have a will. I'm the named payee upon death which all banks in this state normally require the death certificate and my Identification to release the funds. Now they want a will with the death certificate. Is this fair?

You say that you are named payee upon death, who has named you payee upon his death?

Have you been nominated by your deceased father as his nominee to receive the monies left in his bank accounts and other places? The bank has to honor the payment to the named nominee and settle the amount left in the account of deceased, so please ascertain this issue.

Law is different to what you have been informed.

In the case of deposit accounts where the depositor had utilized the

nomination facility and made a valid nomination or where the account

was opened with the survivorship clause ('either or survivor', or

'anyone or survivor', or 'former or survivor' or 'latter or

survivor'), the payment of the balance in the deposit account to the

survivor(s)/nominee of a deceased deposit account holder represents a

valid discharge of the bank's liability provided.

it has been made clear to the survivor(s) / nominee that he would be

receiving the payment from the bank as a trustee of the legal heirs of

the deceased depositor, i.e., such payment to him shall not affect the

right or claim which any person may have against the survivor(s) /

nominee to whom the payment is made.

In case where the deceased depositor had not made any nomination or

for the accounts other than those styled as 'either or survivor' (such

as single or jointly operated accounts), banks are advised to adopt a

simplified procedure for repayment to legal heir(s) of the depositor

keeping in view the imperative need to avoid inconvenience and undue

hardship to the common person. In this context, banks may, keeping in

view their risk management systems, fix a minimum threshold limit, for

the balance in the account of the deceased depositors, up to which

claims in respect of the deceased depositors could be settled without

insisting on production of any documentation other than a letter of

indemnity.