What is Legal Heir Certificate?

In terms of law, the legal heir is a person who represents the assets of an individual after his/her death. When you register for a legal heir certificate, the following documents are acceptable:

• If the certificate is issued by the court of law, it represents the legal heirship.
• The legal heirship certificate is issued by the local authority of revenue.
• If the certificate is issued to all the remaining family members by the local revenue officials.
• The will of the deceased person.
• The family pension certificate is issued by the state or central government.
• The most common type of certificate that is available is the certificate of surviving family members by the state revenue authorities, like the municipality or nagarpalika. As you know, this certificate is mostly issued in the regional language, so the heir should get it translated and have it notarized. 

Documents to file the ITR of the Deceased Person

You will need copies of the following documents to file the ITR on behalf of the deceased person:

• Death certificate of the deceased person.
• PAN card of the deceased person.
• Self-attested copy of the PAN card of the legal heir.
• The certificate of legal heir.
• If there is any order passed in the name of the deceased person.

Registration Approval Process

After successfully registering, the legal heir is called to send it to the e-filing administrator. He will verify the requests and accordingly approve/reject the request. If the request is approved, then the heir can use all the services that are available for the deceased and the legal heir.

If the request is rejected for any reason, then the legal heir will receive an intimation with a valid reason for the rejection. There could be many reasons, such as a wrong document uploaded, incorrect information provided, etc. As per the reasons, the legal heir should take the important actions to correct all these mistakes. 

After the approval, the legal heir can access the income tax e-filing account of the deceased taxpayer with their own income tax login. After logging in, you can change it from SELF to LEGAL HEIR or REPRESENTATIVE, so that you can access all the information and also file the ITR.