Mandatory Probate Rule Scrapped: India’s Succession Law Reform

A Strategic, Legal & Operational Guide for Founders, Family Offices and Institutions (2026)

India has recently undertaken a significant reform in its succession framework by removing the requirement of compulsory probate rule for certain categories of wills. Previously, in metropolitan jurisdictions such as Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai, beneficiaries could not legally act upon a will unless it was first validated by a court through probate a procedure that was frequently time-consuming, expensive, and procedurally intensive. Pursuant to the Repealing and Amending Act, 2025, which amends the Indian Succession Act, 1925, this mandatory requirement has been dispensed with. As a result, a validly executed will may now be implemented without prior court confirmation, while probate continues to remain available as a voluntary protective mechanism in cases involving heightened risk, uncertainty, or potential disputes. In effect, the reform simplifies and accelerates inheritance for families and businesses, places greater emphasis on accurate will-drafting and documentation, and enables courts to concentrate judicial resources on matters that genuinely require adjudication.

India’s Succession Law Reform under the Repealing and Amending Act, 2025

India’s succession law framework has undergone a structural reset with the formal notification of the Repealing and Amending Act, 2025 in December 2025. The most consequential outcome of this legislation is the complete omission of Section 213 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, which for nearly a century imposed a mandatory probate requirement on wills executed by certain communities in the former Presidency Towns of Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai.

This reform dismantles a long-criticised geographical and religious anomaly, replacing a court-mandated gatekeeping regime with a choice-based, risk-calibrated succession framework. Probate has not been abolished. Instead, it has transitioned from a compulsory procedural hurdle into a strategic legal instrument, to be deployed selectively where estate complexity, dispute risk, or asset value demands judicial certainty.

For founders, family offices, high-net-worth individuals (HNIs), banks, housing societies, trustees, and corporate stakeholders, this change materially alters:

• estate administration timelines and costs
• institutional compliance models
• litigation risk allocation
• succession planning strategies
• property and securities transmission workflows

In parallel, financial-market reforms such as SEBI’s Transmission to Legal Heirs (TLH) reporting code (effective January 2026) indicate a coordinated regulatory shift toward trust-based, friction-reduced asset transmission.

This merged report-blog provides a complete legal, operational, and strategic analysis of the reform, supported by legislative history, case law evolution, quantitative impact assessment, stakeholder-specific implications, global comparisons, and a practitioner-ready playbook.

1. What Is Probate and Why It Historically Mattered in India

Probate is a judicial certification of a will that confirms:

1. the authenticity of the will, and
2. the authority of the executor to administer the estate

Once granted, probate operates as a judgment in rem, conclusively binding on the world at large.

The pre-2025 mandatory probate regime

Before the 2025 reform:

• Section 213 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 created a statutory bar: no right under a will could be enforced in court without probate or letters of administration.
• This mandate applied only in the former Presidency Towns:
  • Mumbai (Bombay)
  • Kolkata (Calcutta)
  • Chennai (Madras)
• It applied selectively to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, and Parsis, while Muslims and residents of cities such as Delhi or Bengaluru were exempt.

Practical consequences of mandatory probate

• High Court filings even for uncontested estates
• Ad-valorem court fees
• Procedural hearings and public notices
• Typical timelines of 2–5 years in complex cases
• Costs that often exceeded the value of modest estates

2. The 2025 Succession Law Reform: What Changed

Core legislative action – Omission of Section 213, Indian Succession Act, 1925

The Second Schedule of the Repealing and Amending Act, 2025 explicitly directs that “Section 213 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 shall be omitted.”

This removes the condition precedent that previously treated wills in Presidency Towns as legally “suspect” unless judicially validated.

Consequential statutory amendments

To prevent interpretational gaps, Parliament simultaneously amended:

• Section 3(1) – removing references to Section 213 from state-exemption powers
• Section 370(1) and (2) – expanding access to Succession Certificates for debts and securities
• Retained Section 212 (intestacy) and Section 273 (conclusive nature of probate)

What remains unchanged

• Probate continues to exist
• Courts retain probate jurisdiction
• Probate still delivers the highest level of legal certainty

The reform does not weaken probate; it repositions it.

3. Why This Reform Matters: Ending a Colonial Anomaly

The mandatory probate rule originated in late-19th-century colonial administration. Its survival into modern India created formal inequality across geography and religion.

Before vs After (Structural Comparison)

Dimension	Pre-2025	Post-2025
Geography	Mandatory in 3 cities	Optional nationwide
Religion	Selective communities	Uniform application
Institutional practice	Probate-driven	Risk-based discretion
Cost & time	High, court-centric	Reduced, flexible
Citizen autonomy	Limited	Restored

By removing mandatory probate, the reform restores testamentary autonomy, reduces scope for procedural abuse, and aligns succession law with contemporary ease-of-living objectives.

4. Legal Mechanics: How the Burden of Proof Has Shifted

From court-first to challenge-based scrutiny

Under the old regime, judicial scrutiny occurred upfront. Post-reform, scrutiny is deferred and triggered only if a dispute arises.

Interpretation risks

• Different institutions may evaluate the same will differently
• Mutation is not proof of title
• Revenue authorities conduct only summary inquiries
• Litigation risk now depends heavily on drafting quality and documentation

This makes preventive legal design more critical than ever.

5. Probate vs Succession Certificate: Practical Distinctions

Factor	Probate	Succession Certificate
Purpose	Validates will & executor	Enables collection of debts/securities
Judicial depth	High	Summary
Typical duration	6–18+ months	2–4 months
Use case	High-value, complex, disputed estates	Financial assets
Legal conclusiveness	Judgment in rem	Limited

Post-2025, Succession Certificates are now accessible in situations previously blocked by mandatory probate.

6. Quantitative Impact: Time, Cost, and Court Burden

Metric	Earlier Regime	Post-Reform
Median estate settlement	12–24 months	2–8 months
Court hearings	Multiple	Only if disputed
High Court load	Heavy	Expected to decline

7. Stakeholder-Wise Operational Impact

Banks and Financial Institutions

• Faster claim settlements
• Increased payout.
• Nominees remain trustees, not owners
• Likely adoption of valuation-based thresholds
• Indemnities and affidavits gain prominence

Housing Societies & Real Estate

• Bye-laws must be updated
• Reliance shifts to:
  • registered wills
  • indemnity bonds
  • title search reports
• Buyers may still demand probate for “clean title”

Corporate Trustees & Family Offices

• Trusts remain superior for probate-free succession
• Voluntary probate recommended for:
  • blended families
  • estranged heirs
  • large real-estate portfolios

Startups & Founders

• Share transmission under Companies Act, 2013 becomes faster
• SHAs must be reviewed to remove probate-contingent clauses
• Voting control during succession improves materially

8. Risk Scenarios and Decision Tree (2026)

High-risk scenarios (probate strongly advised)

• Handwritten or copy wills
• Exclusion of spouse/child
• Multiple wills or suspicious circumstances
• Large debts or ongoing litigation

Medium-risk scenarios

• High-value real estate
• Third-party executors
• Unequal distributions

Low-risk scenarios

• Registered wills
• Aligned nominations
• Amicable Class-I heirs
• Assets under ₹50 lakh

9. International Comparison: Where India Now Stands

The move toward optional probate aligns India with international trends where judicial intervention is reserved for higher-risk or high-value cases.

Jurisdiction	Probate Trigger Mechanism	Strategic Parallel to India
United Kingdom	Determined by individual banks/institutions; typically £5k to £50k thresholds.	India’s banks are expected to adopt similar “risk-based” internal limits.
Singapore	Mandatory for most asset transfers; “Resealing” allowed for Commonwealth grants.	Singapore still maintains a robust mandatory regime, showing India is now “more liberal” than its neighbor.
United States (UPC)	Dual “Informal” and “Formal” tracks based on size and complexity ($25k threshold common).	India’s “optional probate” is akin to the UPC’s “Informal Probate” where the court role is minimal for uncontested estates.

The US Massachusetts Uniform Probate Code (MAUPC) provides a glimpse into India’s future. In the US, “Voluntary Administration” is a simplified process for small estates with no real estate. 

India has gone a step further by removing the mandatory requirement even for real estate in the Presidency Towns, effectively trusting the “Deed” unless challenged. India has effectively leapfrogged into a trust-first, court-last succession model.

10. Market Synergy: SEBI’s TLH Code (Effective Jan 2026)

The 2025 probate reform does not exist in a vacuum. It is supported by financial market reforms aimed at “Ease of Doing Investment”

• TLH = Transmission to Legal Heirs – Effective January 1, 2026, SEBI has introduced the “TLH” reporting code for market intermediaries (RTAs, DPs).
• Enables tax-neutral securities transfer – Previously, when a nominee transferred securities to a legal heir, it was sometimes wrongly taxed as a “transfer” (Capital Gains). The TLH code signals to the CBDT that the transaction is an exempt inheritance under Section 47(iii) of the Income Tax Act.
• Prevents misclassification as capital gains
• Complements probate reform by:
  • clarifying who inherits
  • simplifying how assets transfer

By first ensuring who should inherit through nomination reforms and now ensuring a tax-neutral, probate-free transfer path, the regulators are creating a “seamless loop” for financial assets.

11. Practitioner Playbook

Before death (testator)

• Drafting Quality: Ensure the will explicitly mentions Section 63 formalities. Since there is no automatic court audit, the “internal robustness” of the document is the only defense.
• Video Attestation: Record a video of the signing ceremony to prove “testamentary capacity” and “sound mind”.
• Registration: Although not mandatory, register the will at the Sub-Registrar’s office. This provides a “public record” that can satisfy housing societies even without probate.
• Nomination Audit: Ensure all financial nominees match the legatees in the will to minimize “Trustee vs. Owner” friction.

After death (executor/heirs)

• Succession Certificate Route: For debts/securities, evaluate if a Succession Certificate (now easier post-Section 370 update) is faster than a full probate.
• SEBI TLH Reporting: Ensure your DP uses the “TLH” code for share transfers to avoid capital gains tax demands.
• Property Mutation: Apply for mutation at the Municipal Corporation (e.g., KMC or MCGM) using an affidavit of “No Other Legal Heirs” and a copy of the will.
• Indemnity Strategy: Prepare standard indemnity bonds for banks and housing societies to offset their perceived risk of paying out without a court order.

12. Policy & Market Implications

• Judicial capacity unlocked for substantive adjudication:
  By eliminating compulsory probate for uncontested wills, the High Courts of Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai are relieved of a significant volume of routine, procedural probate filings. Judicial time and institutional capacity can now be reallocated toward complex civil, commercial, insolvency, and constitutional matters that genuinely require adjudication.
• Accelerated liquidity and operational continuity for families and enterprises:
  Heirs and executors can access immovable property, bank deposits, securities, and business interests without prolonged court timelines. This materially improves cash flow availability for household needs, debt servicing, succession-driven business continuity, and founder-led enterprise stability.
• Reduction in unclaimed and dormant financial assets:
  Easier execution of valid wills reduces friction in succession, directly addressing the chronic accumulation of unclaimed balances held by banks, insurance companies, mutual funds, and depositories. Faster transmission of assets limits dormancy, improves capital circulation in the financial system, and reduces administrative and compliance burdens on financial institutions.
• Greater emphasis on precision-driven estate planning:
  With courts no longer functioning as an automatic validation layer, outcomes increasingly depend on the technical quality of will drafting, asset identification, nomination alignment, and record integrity. This is likely to drive higher demand for structured estate planning, particularly among founders, business families, and high-net-worth individuals.
• Professional evolution from probate processing to succession strategy:
  Legal and advisory services are shifting away from volume-driven probate filings toward integrated succession advisory. The focus moves to risk mitigation, dispute avoidance, instrument selection (wills, trusts, voluntary probate), intergenerational governance, and long-term ownership continuity for family enterprises and institutional wealth.

13. Strategic Conclusion

The scrapping of mandatory probate is not deregulation, it is re-regulation by design.

The law has reduced compulsion, but increased responsibility. Those who plan well gain speed and efficiency. Those who plan poorly face amplified litigation risk.

The scrapping of the mandatory probate rule is a victory for legal uniformity and administrative efficiency in India. However, as the “compulsion” of the law recedes, the “responsibility” of the individual increases. The 2025 reforms have handed the keys to estate administration back to the families, but they must now navigate the landscape without the automatic “certification” of the court.

Treelife is uniquely positioned to assist stakeholders in this transition. Our expertise in estate planning, corporate governance, and succession strategy ensures that your legacy is not only legally valid but operationally seamless.

• Legacy Audits: Is your 20-year-old will still the best way to protect your heirs under the new law?
• Institutional Liaising: We manage the “paperwork war” with banks and housing societies so you don’t have to.
• Strategic Succession: For founders and HNIs, we design trust structures that render probate questions entirely moot.

References & Sources:

All statutory analysis, data, frameworks, and conclusions above incorporate and rely upon Treelife’s internal report and the following publicly available sources:

• https://prsindia.org/files/bills_acts/bills_parliament/2025/Repealing_And_Amending_Bill,2025.pdf
• https://prsindia.org/files/bills_acts/acts_parliament/2025/The_Repealing_and_Amending_Act_2025.pdf
• https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/plan/probate-no-longer-mandatory-in-these-three-metros-what-repealing-section-213-means-for-wills-and-estates/articleshow/126309769.cms
• https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/wealth/legal/will/govt-scraps-mandatory-probate-of-wills-is-voluntary-probate-still-a-smart-move/articleshow/126137433.cms
• https://trilegal.com/knowledge_repository/trilegal-update-removal-of-the-mandatory-probate-requirement-under-the-indian-succession-act/
• https://www.khaitanco.com/thought-leadership/Probate-no-longer-mandatory-Impact-of-the-Repealing-and-Amending-Act-2025-on-Testamentary-Succession
• https://ssrana.in/articles/a-long-overdue-reform-repeal-of-section-213-of-the-indian-succession-act-1925/
• https://www.sebi.gov.in/legal/circulars/sep-2025/smooth-transmission-of-securities-from-nominee-to-legal-heir_77204.html 
• https://www.taxmann.com/post/blog/sebi-introduces-tlh-reporting-code-for-transmission-of-securities