The omission of Section 213 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 has fundamentally altered the legal landscape for estate planning in India. According to reports from Mint, this change took effect from 20 December 2025 following the Repealing and Amending Act, 2025. Previously, Section 213 had restricted certain executors and beneficiaries from establishing rights under a will in court unless probate or letters of administration had first been obtained. This statutory requirement has now been completely removed, though probate continues to exist as a legal remedy. The Repealing and Amending Act 2025 (Act No. 37 of 2025) received Presidential assent on December 20, 2025, with the reform applying prospectively to all future cases while pending probate proceedings continue under earlier law.
The removal of Section 213 has eliminated the previous geographic restrictions that applied to different communities. As reported by Mint, for Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains, the requirement broadly applied to specified wills connected with territories falling within the original civil jurisdiction of high courts at Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. Different rules previously applied to certain other communities, but the omission of Section 213 has now removed these statutory distinctions across India. The reform applies specifically to Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, and Parsi testators in these jurisdictions, making probate voluntary everywhere in India.
A significant consequence of the Section 213 omission is the expanded scope of succession certificates, which can now be granted in more situations. Section 370 previously barred grant of succession certificates for debts or securities where probate was required under Sections 212 or 213. With Section 213 omitted, Section 370 was amended to remove this restriction. This means that families who previously faced challenges between mandatory probate and barred succession certificates can now move forward with succession certificate applications alone. For intestate estates (no will), succession certificates are now the cleaner path for claiming bank deposits, mutual funds, shares, or other financial assets, providing a more streamlined process for families. As per Mint, succession certificates are issued by civil courts when a person dies without leaving a will and help legal heirs collect movable assets and outstanding debts.
Despite probate no longer being mandatory, it continues to serve important functions in estate administration. According to Mint reports, probate is essentially a court's way of validating the authenticity and genuineness of a will in addition to validating that the executor has legal authority to distribute the estate. The court examines whether the will is genuine and whether the testator was of sound mind before granting executor authority. Financial institutions often require probated wills before releasing funds, particularly where there is no nomination or where nominations are disputed. Families with high-value estates or potential inheritance disputes may still benefit from obtaining probate voluntarily, as it provides greater confidence to banks, housing societies, and prospective buyers because its authenticity has been examined by a court. However, probate is not proof of ownership - it merely validates the will and authorizes the executor to act on it, with ownership transferred later through mutation of revenue records.
When a person dies without a will, probate does not apply and the estate is distributed according to applicable personal succession laws. For Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains, this means distribution under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, while Christians and Parsis follow the Indian Succession Act, 1925, and Muslims follow Muslim Personal Law. To claim movable assets such as bank deposits and investments, legal heirs generally require a succession certificate. Immovable property is transferred through mutation of revenue records or other legal procedures. A legal heir certificate may be sufficient for certain administrative formalities but is generally inadequate where ownership is disputed. As reported by Mint, probate can be challenged under Section 263 of the Indian Succession Act if it's established the will was forged, obtained through fraud or undue influence, executed when the testator lacked mental capacity, or had been revoked before death, though the burden of proof lies with the challenger.
