How to Apply for a Legal Heir Certificate in Mumbai 2026? Office, Court and Cost
How to Apply for a Legal Heir Certificate in Mumbai 2026? Office, Court and Cost
If a bank or a housing society has asked you for a legal heir certificate, in Mumbai you apply to the City Civil Court, not to a government counter. No Tahsildar issues one here, and it is not on Aaple Sarkar. Which court depends on your address: Fort covers Colaba to Mulund, and Dindoshi covers Bandra to Dahisar.
If you have already queued at a Collectorate and come away with nothing, that is why. Almost every guide to this subject sends you to a portal that does not carry it.
Where this page sits
This page covers Mumbai specifically: which authority actually issues the certificate, which of the two City Civil Court benches covers your address, why the service is not on Aaple Sarkar, and which of the fees you will see quoted actually applies to you.
If what you need is authority to collect the deceased's bank balances and securities, rather than proof of who the heirs are, that is the succession certificate route in Maharashtra. If you would rather hand the filing over, that is legal heir certificate assistance in Mumbai.
Related guides:
- Legal heir certificate or succession certificate, which one you need
- Nominee versus legal heir
- How to get a succession certificate in Maharashtra
Who Issues a Legal Heir Certificate in Mumbai?
Two authorities are involved, doing two different things, and the confusion between them is what costs families months.
The court issues the certificate. In Maharashtra the varas praman patra is a court document. The Land Records department's own guidance lists, among the papers for an heirship entry, the heirship certificate of a competent court. Not of a Tahsildar. The instrument is an heirship certificate under Bombay Regulation VIII of 1827, a Bombay specific provision that has its own article in the Maharashtra Court-Fees Act.
The revenue office changes the record. That is the varas nond, the entry adding the heirs' names to the record of rights. In Mumbai that record is the Property Card, held by the City Survey Officer.
There is one partial exception. The Mumbai City Collectorate at Old Custom House, Fort, does publish an application form for a heirship certificate, while Mumbai Suburban publishes a mutation entry form instead. The two halves of the same city do not even offer the same paperwork.
Which Office Covers Where You Live?
Mumbai is two revenue districts, and they are not built the same way. Mumbai City has no Tahsildar on its published officer roster; Mumbai Suburban has three talukas, each with one. That asymmetry sits on both district websites and appears in almost no published guidance, which is why the standard instruction to see your Tahsildar does not apply in one of the two districts.
| Mumbai City | Mumbai Suburban | |
|---|---|---|
| Collectorate | Old Custom House, Fort, Mumbai 400001 | 10th Floor, Administrative Building, Government Colony, Bandra East, Mumbai 400051 |
| Talukas | None published | Andheri, Borivali, Kurla, each with its own Tahsildar |
| Covers | Fort, Colaba, Girgaon, Byculla, Dadar, Mahim | Bandra northwards and the eastern suburbs |
| Publishes an heirship form | Yes | No, a mutation entry form instead |
So a family in Fort deals with a Collectorate that publishes no Tahsildar, and a family in Andheri deals with the Tahsildar of Andheri taluka under the Bandra Collectorate.
Why Can You Not Apply on Aaple Sarkar?
Because the service is not on it. Aaple Sarkar carries the state's notified Right to Service list, and the Revenue Department's schedule on it runs to fifteen services: domicile, caste, income, non creamy layer, temporary residence, senior citizen, solvency, cultural programme permission, certified copy of the record of rights, small land holder, landless labour, agriculturist, residence in a hilly area, attestation of affidavit, and the project affected persons certificate. A legal heir certificate is not among them, in Mumbai or anywhere else in Maharashtra.
This matters because an unnotified service comes with none of the protections a notified one carries. There is no statutory time limit. There is no designated appellate officer to escalate to. And there is no notified fee, which is why no honest page can quote you one.
What Aaple Sarkar does carry is the record change that comes afterwards: mutation entry where undisputed, notified at 30 days and decided by the City Survey Officer.
Which Court Do You Go To, Fort or Dindoshi?
The City Civil and Sessions Court sits in two places. Which one you attend depends on your address, and not on the district that collects your revenue.
| Bench | Covers | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Fort | Colaba to Mahim, and Colaba to Mulund | Fort, Mumbai 400032 |
| Dindoshi | Bandra to Dahisar | Dindoshi, Goregaon East, Mumbai 400097 |
An Andheri family goes to Dindoshi. A Fort family goes to Fort.
A Kurla family also goes to Fort, because the Fort bench runs up the central line to Mulund, even though Kurla is a suburban taluka for revenue purposes. The revenue boundary and the court boundary do not coincide, and neither office will tell you about the other, so your Tahsildar can sit in Bandra while your court sits in Fort.
One limit to check before you file. The City Civil Court's pecuniary jurisdiction now stands at Rs 10 crore, and above that the petition goes to the Bombay High Court on its original side. The court's own history page still quotes the older Rs 1 crore figure, so do not budget from it.
What Does It Cost in Mumbai?
There is no published government fee for a legal heir certificate, because there is no notified service to attach one to. Anyone quoting you a single all-in number for Mumbai is guessing. What exists instead: a stamp value, a court-fee scale, and a number that belongs to a different system entirely.
Rs 10. The court fee stamp printed on the Mumbai City Collectorate's own application form. It is a stamp value, not a service charge, and it is the only figure the form carries.
The court fee on the certificate. Article 12 of Schedule I to the Maharashtra Court-Fees Act, 1959 charges a certificate under Bombay Regulation VIII of 1827 at the same rate as probate, on the value of the property certified. The rate is a rising slab, charged band by band rather than at the top rate on the whole estate, and the Act caps the total. Confirm the current figure before you budget, because the scale is set by amendment and the published texts do not agree.
Rs 25, which does not apply to you. This is the most commonly misapplied number in the subject. It is the service centre charge for filing a varas nond through the state's e-Hakk portal. e-Hakk handles 7/12 mutations through the Village Revenue Officer, and Mumbai has neither 7/12 extracts nor Talathis.
Would you rather not work this out yourself? WillJini reads which document your bank, society or registrar is actually asking for, files it at the right office or the right bench, and follows it to the order. The service fee is quoted on enquiry. Call 080 6453 3964 or see legal heir certificate assistance in Mumbai.
What Is the Difference Between a Varas Nond and a Varas Praman Patra?
One changes a record. The other is a document you hold.
A varas nond is the entry adding the heirs' names to the record of rights after the owner dies. Nothing is handed across a counter; a record is amended. In Mumbai the record is the Property Card, before the City Survey Officer, notified at 30 days.
A varas praman patra is the certificate declaring who the heirs are. In Maharashtra it comes from a competent court, and it appears in the government's own varas nond document list as an optional input, marked if any. The certificate supports the mutation. It is not what the mutation produces.
For instance, a family in Ghatkopar whose father has died does not obtain the certificate and receive the flat. They obtain it if their situation calls for one, then apply for the varas nond so the Property Card carries their names, then deal with the property tax record and the housing society separately.
One more Mumbai wrinkle sits in that same document list. It offers the 7/12 extract as address proof, which is a dead option in a city that has no 7/12 at all, so produce the property tax receipt or the electricity bill instead.
Which Documents Do You Need?
The Mumbai City Collectorate form asks for:
- The applicant's photograph
- Identity proof: voter ID, passport, driving licence, PAN, Aadhaar or a government issued identity card
- Address proof: voter ID, passport, driving licence, Aadhaar, electricity bill, water bill, rent receipt, telephone bill, ration card or property tax receipt
- The death certificate
- Relation proof: ration card, or a village, council, birth or death record
- A self declaration, which is on the form itself
Two things about that form are worth knowing before you print it. It is dated 27 January 2021, so confirm it is the current version. And if you search the district website for the word heir you will find nothing, because the English label on the form is Nominee Certificate. This matters because it is a poor translation of varasa rather than a different document, so search their site for Nominee Certificate instead.
How Long Does It Take?
Only one part of this has a clock.
The varas nond, as an undisputed mutation entry, is notified at 30 days before the City Survey Officer, with appeals to the District Superintendent of Land Records. If an affidavit has to be attested first, that is notified at one day.
The certificate itself has no notified timeline, because it is not a notified service, and the court route publishes none either. Any page quoting you 15 or 30 days for a Mumbai certificate is estimating.
Plan for one delay that belongs to Mumbai alone. A Property Card for Mumbai Suburban after area verification is notified at 30 days, where the same document elsewhere in Maharashtra is notified at three. Mumbai Suburban is the only district in the state with its own slower line for it.
FAQs
Can I apply for a legal heir certificate online in Mumbai?
No. Aaple Sarkar carries fifteen notified Revenue Department services, and this is not one of them, anywhere in Maharashtra. What you can do online is the mutation entry that follows, which is notified at 30 days before the City Survey Officer.
Who issues a legal heir certificate in Mumbai, the Tahsildar or the court?
In Maharashtra it is a court document. The Land Records department's own guidance refers to the heirship certificate of a competent court. The Mumbai City Collectorate does publish an application form, but Mumbai Suburban does not, and the service is not notified in either district.
I live in Andheri. Which court do I go to?
Dindoshi, at Goregaon East. The Dindoshi branch covers Bandra to Dahisar. Fort covers Colaba to Mahim and Colaba to Mulund, so a Kurla address goes to Fort even though Kurla is a suburban taluka for revenue purposes.
What is the fee for a legal heir certificate in Mumbai?
There is no notified government fee, because the service is not notified. The Mumbai City Collectorate's form carries a Rs 10 court fee stamp. The court route is charged at the probate rate on the value of the property certified. Quoted totals of a few hundred rupees circulating online are not sourced from any government schedule.
Is a legal heir certificate the same as a succession certificate?
No. A succession certificate in Mumbai is granted by a civil court under Part X of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 and authorises an heir to collect the deceased's debts and securities. The two are used for different things, and picking the wrong one is the most common and most expensive error here. We set out how to choose in which certificate you actually need.
Does the certificate decide who inherits?
No. It records who the heirs are. Entitlement comes from the will, or from the succession law that applies where there is none. A nominee is not an heir either, which we cover in nominee versus legal heir.
Every figure, office and timeline on this page traces to a government publication. Where the state publishes nothing, this page says so rather than borrowing a number from elsewhere.
- Maharashtra Right to Service, Revenue Department schedule gov.inThe fifteen notified Revenue Department services. A legal heir certificate is not among them, anywhere in Maharashtra. This is why both blank rows above are blank, and why no honest page can quote a notified fee.
- Maharashtra Land Records, varas nond guidance gov.inLists the heirship certificate of a competent court among the papers for an heirship entry. This is the department’s own wording, and it is why the certificate is a court document in Maharashtra rather than a Tahsildar document.
- Mumbai City Collectorate, forms gov.inPublishes the heirship application form, dated 27 January 2021 and labelled Nominee Certificate in English. It is the form that carries the Rs 10 court fee stamp.
- Mumbai Suburban, talukas and Tahsildars gov.inAndheri, Borivali and Kurla, each with a published Tahsildar. Mumbai City’s own officer roster has none, which is the asymmetry that breaks the standard advice.
- Bombay City Civil and Sessions Court, both benches gov.inThe Fort and Dindoshi addresses. Cited here rather than the court’s history page, which still shows the superseded Rs 1 crore pecuniary limit.
- Mutation entry, undisputed, notified at 30 days gov.inThe one part of this with a statutory clock. Decided by the City Survey Officer, with appeals to the District Superintendent of Land Records.
Jatin founded WillJini to make succession paperwork survivable for ordinary families, in a country where the office that issues a document, the fee it carries and the time it takes all change at the state line. He has been a member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India since January 1995.
- B.G.L., University of Mumbai
- Company Secretary
- ICSI member since 1995
Every page in this guide series is reviewed against the issuing department’s own published material before it goes up. Where a state publishes nothing, this site says so rather than borrowing a figure from elsewhere.
Other articles for you
