An NRI heir claims a deceased person's shares in India by transmission: applying to the company's registrar (for physical shares) or the depository participant (for demat holdings) with the death certificate and proof of entitlement, then holding the shares in a demat account linked to an NRO bank account. If dividends were unclaimed for seven years the shares will be with the Investor Education and Protection Fund and are recovered by filing Form IEPF-5. There is no time limit on such claims.
Step 1: Find out what exists
Make a list from every source: share certificates (note company name, folio number, certificate and distinctive numbers), dividend counterfoils, old bank passbooks with dividend credits, annual reports received by post, depository statements and income tax returns listing dividends. Companies change names, merge and split their shares, so a certificate for one hundred shares of a company from the 1980s may today represent thousands of shares in a different entity.
For each company, identify the current registrar and transfer agent from the company's website or the stock exchange. Write to the registrar with the folio number and death certificate asking for the present holding, unpaid dividends and whether anything has been transferred to IEPF. The IEPF Authority's website also has a search by investor name.
Step 2: Set up your own accounts
You need a PAN, an NRO savings account and a demat account opened with NRI status. Inherited shares are held on a non-repatriation basis, so the demat account is linked to the NRO account. Complete KYC with your passport, overseas address proof and, for OCI holders, the OCI card. This takes a few weeks from abroad and can run in parallel with tracing.
Step 3: Establish your entitlement
What you must produce depends on how the shares were held:
- Joint holding: the surviving holder gets the shares on a simple request with the death certificate.
- Nomination registered: the nominee applies with the death certificate and KYC.
- No nominee, modest value: the market regulator's simplified norms allow transmission on a legal heirship certificate or notarised family affidavit, with indemnity and no-objection from other heirs, up to prescribed value thresholds per company for physical shares and per account for demat.
- No nominee, higher value: a succession certificate, probate of the will or letters of administration.
The court documents are explained in our comparison guide. Documents you sign abroad must be apostilled or attested.
Step 4: Lodge the transmission
For physical shares, send the transmission request form, original certificates, entitlement documents and KYC to the registrar. The company no longer issues new paper certificates; it issues a letter of confirmation, which you submit to your depository participant within the stated period to have the shares credited electronically. For demat holdings, the deceased's participant transfers the securities to your demat account on a transmission form. If certificates are lost, the duplicate procedure requires a police complaint, newspaper notice, affidavit and indemnity bond before the letter of confirmation is issued.
Step 5: Claim anything that has gone to IEPF
Dividends unclaimed for seven years, and the shares on which they were declared, are transferred to the Fund under section 124 of the Companies Act, 2013. To recover them: obtain an entitlement letter from the company where its process requires; file Form IEPF-5 on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs portal; print and sign the form and send it with an indemnity bond, advance receipt, original certificates or transmission documents, and identity proofs to the company's nodal officer. The company verifies and files its report; the Authority then approves, credits shares to your demat account and pays dividends to your bank. Expect several months, and be prepared to follow up.
Step 6: Tax, sale and repatriation
Receiving shares by inheritance is not taxed in India. Dividends are taxable, with tax deducted at source for non-residents at twenty per cent plus surcharge and cess, or the treaty rate if you provide a tax residency certificate. On sale, your cost is the original holder's cost and their holding period counts; for listed shares acquired before 1 February 2018 the higher of actual cost and the fair market value on 31 January 2018 (capped at sale price) is used. Long-term gains on listed equity above the annual exemption are taxed at 12.5 per cent. Sale proceeds reach the NRO account and may be remitted abroad within the annual limit. Help with the whole process is described under shares transmission and IEPF recovery.
- Trace each holding through the company's registrar; old certificates may represent far more shares today.
- Open an NRI demat account linked to an NRO bank account.
- Nominee or joint holder: simple transmission. Otherwise heirship proof by value.
- Shares in IEPF can be claimed at any time with Form IEPF-5.
Frequently asked questions
Are old physical share certificates still valid?
Yes. They remain evidence of ownership, but shares can no longer be sold in physical form. They must be dematerialised, which is done as part of transmission.
Is there a deadline to claim shares from IEPF?
No. The right of the owner or legal heirs to claim does not expire.
Do I need a succession certificate for inherited shares?
Not where there is a nominee or surviving joint holder, and not for smaller holdings covered by the simplified norms. It is needed for larger holdings without nomination, unless there is a probated will.
Can I claim if the company no longer exists under that name?
Usually yes. After a merger or name change your entitlement continues in the successor company. If the company was liquidated or struck off, recovery may not be possible.
Can several heirs claim together?
Yes. The shares can be transmitted to all heirs jointly or, with no-objection from the others, to one of them. Agree this before applying.
