Indian families are often clueless about the financial details of other members. This can be a problem in case of sudden death in the family. Here are the five steps you can follow to get hold of the investment details of the deceased.
The pandemic has claimed the loved ones of numerous families in the last two years. One of the challenges that a lot of families face in this situation is lack of investment details of the deceased family member. If the deceased is the main breadwinner, this can leave the family in a financial quandary.
While experts advise investors to keep their families in the loop when it comes to investments and savings, that doesn’t happen a lot of times. Here are the steps families, including the spouse or children, can take to find out about the financial and other investment details of the deceased.
If you don’t have the details of the investments of the deceased, the best way to go about it is to search the pile of documents at home or check the person’s laptop or smartphone for clues.
“Firstly, one needs to figure out, where all the person has bank accounts and what are the sort of investments, he/she had and reach out to the banks and other financial institutions,” says Mrin Agarwal, financial educator & director, Finsafe India private limited, a financial education firm.
Often these days, people opt for online financial services through various apps, so family members can get an idea from those apps. They can try to recover the login credentials to access them.
2. Contact The Financial Advisor
If the family members of the deceased fail to get the details by themselves, they need to contact the agents/financial advisors/chartered accountant that the deceased used to consult and collate all the information.
3. Get A Succession Certificate
Be it for any banking or property related work, it is always better to obtain the legal heir or the succession certificate (depending upon the assets), especially if there is no nominee name added in the bank accounts or other investments.
“Spouse and the children can get this certificate from the local municipality body, sub-registrar office and/or the court. This certificate needs to be submitted to the financial institutions and banks to get the accounts transferred in the name of the spouse or son or daughter if they are not added as a nominee,” says Agarwal.
4. Get Property Details Through RTI
In many cases, family members are not aware of the real estate investments the deceased had. “They can file an RTI (in the city of residence) to get the details of residential and commercial property registered in the name of the deceased,” says Akhil Rexwal, a practising advocate in the Delhi High Court.
5. Get The Certified Property Papers
If the family members fail to get the property papers of the deceased, then they need to lodge an FIR with the local police station. They can then apply for the certified copy of the property paper with the property billing number from the nearest registrar office. “Once they have the certified copy of the property and the succession papers, one needs to remove the name of the deceased and incorporate his/her name in the mutation papers of the property,” adds Rexwal.