Transmission is how a shareholding passes to those entitled to it after the holder dies. It is not a transfer — nothing is being sold or gifted, and no stamp duty applies to the passing itself. It is the registrar recording, on proof, that ownership has moved by operation of law.
Families usually come to us some years after the death, having discovered certificates while clearing a house. That delay is normal and it is recoverable. What it changes is the paperwork: the longer a folio sits in a deceased holder's name, the more likely its dividends have gone unclaimed long enough for the shares to have moved to the IEPF as well.
What decides how hard this will be
Three questions, answered at the start, determine the entire route:
- Was there a valid nomination on the folio? A registered nominee is the simplest path by a wide margin — the nominee's title is established by the nomination itself.
- Was the holding joint, and is a holder surviving? Then the survivor's name is recorded and the holding continues, which is simpler again.
- Neither? Then entitlement has to be proved by a succession document, and which one depends on the value of the holding and whether there is a will.
This is also the strongest argument for registering a nomination on your own folios today. The difference between a nominated and a non-nominated folio is the difference between weeks and, in a contested estate, years.
Where there is a nomination or a surviving joint holder
The lighter route. The registrar will generally want:
- A transmission request in SEBI's prescribed form.
- The original or a certified death certificate.
- PAN and KYC of the nominee or surviving holder, with a bank mandate.
- The original certificates, where the holding is physical.
- A Client Master List for the demat account the shares will be credited to — transmission results in an electronic holding.
A nomination registered years ago is worth verifying before you rely on it. Nominations are sometimes recorded against one folio and not another, or name someone who has since died, in which case the folio falls back to the succession route.
Where there is no nomination
Entitlement has to be established, and the document required scales with the value of the holding and the circumstances:
- A will, which in some jurisdictions and above certain values requires probate before a registrar will act on it.
- A succession certificate from a competent court, where there is no will.
- A legal heir certificate, accepted by many registrars for smaller holdings.
- A no-objection and indemnity from the other heirs, where one heir is to receive the holding.
- A family settlement deed, where the estate is being divided by agreement.
SEBI prescribes value thresholds below which a registrar may accept the lighter documents instead of requiring a court order, and those thresholds differ for physical and demat holdings. They are also revised periodically, so we confirm the limits in force and the specific registrar's practice before sending a family to court. Obtaining a succession certificate is a months-long, costly exercise; avoiding it legitimately where the value permits is a substantial part of the value we add.
When the shares have already gone to the IEPF
This is the commonest compound case we handle, and the order is fixed: entitlement first, then the IEPF claim. The IEPF claim is filed by the person the transmission establishes as entitled, into their demat account and their bank account. Filing in the deceased holder's name does not work.
That is two procedures, three parties and a materially longer timeline — the company's Nodal Officer, the registrar and the IEPF Authority all verify independently. It is entirely routine work, but a family should hear at the outset that it is months rather than weeks.
Several heirs, one holding
Where more than one person is entitled, the family decides the outcome and the paperwork follows it:
- To one heir, with the others releasing their claim by no-objection and indemnity.
- Split between heirs in agreed proportions, which requires the holding to be divisible and each heir to have a demat account.
- Jointly, in an agreed order of holders.
We set out what each option needs before anything is filed, because changing course afterwards means starting the registrar's process again. Where the estate is disputed, transmission cannot resolve it — that is a matter for the heirs or a court, and we will say so rather than filing something that will be objected to.
For families living outside India
Heirs abroad face procedure rather than principle:
- Documents generally need attestation by a notary, an Indian mission, or a banker in the country of residence.
- A demat account of the right type is needed to receive the shares, and the choice affects later repatriation.
- A bank mandate — usually NRO or NRE — replaces the closed Indian account on the folio.
- Nobody can attend a branch in India, which changes how signatures are attested.
We plan the document set around where the heirs actually are, and we sequence it so that nothing has to be couriered twice.
What we do
We establish what the deceased held — including folios the family does not know about — determine the lightest legitimate route to entitlement, prepare the document set to the registrar's own requirements, and carry it through to the credit in the heirs' demat accounts. Where an IEPF claim, a duplicate certificate or a folio regularisation has to happen as well, we sequence them so each step unlocks the next.
We are Chartered Accountants, and where a matter genuinely needs a court, we say so early rather than filing into a rejection.