Indian Inheritance & Succession Lawyers for UK Clients

An advocate in India can help UK-based heirs claim and transfer a relative's Indian assets: applying for succession certificates, probate or letters of administration, legal heir certificates and mutation of land records, and resolving disputes over family or ancestral property. Some steps can be handled under a power of attorney while you stay in the UK.

Advocates on Indian Attorneys UK practise Indian law in India. The platform introduces you to an advocate and handles milestone payments; it is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.

Succession to immovable property in India is governed by Indian law, wherever the person who died was domiciled (Indian Succession Act, 1925, section 5). For Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists, the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 sets the order of heirs where there is no will; other communities have their own rules.

Since 2005, a daughter in a Hindu joint family governed by Mitakshara law is a coparcener by birth, with the same rights in coparcenary property as a son (Hindu Succession Act, section 6). Any Hindu may leave property by will, as far as it is theirs to dispose of (section 30).

To collect debts and securities such as bank balances or shares, heirs can apply to the District Judge for a succession certificate under Part X of the Indian Succession Act. The court gives notice of the application and decides the right to the certificate in a summary manner (section 373). Where there is a will, the court can grant probate or letters of administration.

Section 213 of the Act, which had made probate compulsory for certain wills by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis linked to Bengal and to Madras and Bombay, was removed by the Repealing and Amending Act, 2025 with effect from 20 December 2025.

If a will has already been proved in a UK court, section 228 allows letters of administration in India with an authenticated copy of that will annexed. A new will must be signed by the testator and attested by at least two witnesses (section 63); registering it is optional (Registration Act, 1908, section 18).

An advocate can apply, attend hearings and get the record of rights updated.

NRIs and OCI cardholders can inherit any immovable property in India, including agricultural land, under the Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019, but can sell agricultural land only to a person resident in India. Sale proceeds and other inherited assets can be sent abroad within USD 1 million per financial year, subject to tax and documentation.