After a death in the family
A calm, ordered path through the paperwork after losing someone in India: the first 30 days, the documents you will be asked for, and how to claim each kind of account, policy and asset.
There is no good order to do any of this in, but there is a workable one. Start with the first guide and go down the list only as far as your family's situation needs. Nothing here has to be done today, and most of it cannot be rushed anyway.
8 guides · about 42 minutes in all
The guides, in reading order
- Start here The First 30 Days After a Death in the Family: What to Do, in Order A calm, practical guide for the hardest month. 7 minute read
- Documents Needed After a Parent's Death in India: A Checklist A complete, plain-language checklist of the documents and exact forms an Indian family needs after a parent's death, covering LIC, EPF, PPF, bank accounts, property, and investments. 6 minute read
- Succession Certificate or Legal Heir Certificate: Which Do You Need? Families lose months getting the wrong document. 5 minute read
- How to Claim an LIC Policy After the Policyholder's Death A step-by-step guide to claiming an LIC policy after death in India. 6 minute read
- EPF Death Claim: How to Claim PF, Pension and Insurance A family can be owed three separate amounts when an EPF member dies: the PF balance, a monthly pension, and up to Rs 7 lakh of EDLI insurance. 5 minute read
- PPF and Post Office Savings After a Death: How Families Claim Them PPF accounts, post office savings, NSC, KVP and senior citizen schemes hold enormous family savings, and they sit outside every online search portal. 4 minute read
- What Happens to a Bank Locker When the Holder Dies Who can open a locker after a death, with a nominee, with a survivor, or with neither. 4 minute read
- How to Claim Shares and Dividends Stuck in the IEPF: A Complete Guide When dividends go unclaimed for seven years, the shares themselves are transferred to the government's IEPF. 5 minute read
