How to Apply for Probate of a Will in India (2026)

How-To Guide · Probate of a Will

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

Probate is an order of a court that says a will is genuine and gives the executor named in it the legal right to deal with the dead person's property. You apply for it under the Indian Succession Act, 1925, before the District Court that has jurisdiction, or the High Court where the High Court has that power. Probate is not needed in every case. This guide explains when you actually need it, which court to approach, how to draft and file the petition, the citations step, the court fee, and how to track the matter until the grant. Last verified October 2026.

01What probate means

A will says who gets a person's property after death and names an executor to carry out those wishes. Probate is the court's stamp on that will. It does two things: it proves that the will is the last valid will of the person who died, and it gives the executor the authority to collect the assets, pay the debts and hand over property to the people named in the will.

Probate can only be granted to an executor named in the will. If the will names no executor, or the executor has died or refuses to act, the right people apply for letters of administration with the will annexed instead. A grant of probate is conclusive proof of the executor's title, so banks, registrars and companies act on it without asking more questions.

If there is no will at all, probate does not apply. The heirs take the estate under the rules of intestate succession and may need a different document. See how property passes when there is no will and how to get a succession certificate.

02When you actually need probate

Many families assume probate is always needed. It is not. Under Section 213 of the Indian Succession Act, probate or letters of administration are required before a court will recognise a right as executor or legatee only in certain situations.

• Wills made by Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs or Jains generally need probate only where the will was made, or deals with immovable property, within the areas that were the old presidency towns of Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai, or within certain notified territories.
• Wills of Indian Christians and Parsis follow their own rules under the same Act.
• Outside those areas, a Hindu will can often be acted upon without probate, though a bank or a sub-registrar may still ask for it where the title is large or disputed.

Because the rule turns on community, place and the type of asset, confirm your own position with a local advocate before you decide.

03Which court has jurisdiction

Probate is granted by a court of competent jurisdiction. Which court that is depends on where the property is and the value of the estate.

• District Court: the District Judge is the ordinary court for probate under Section 264. You usually apply where the person who died had a fixed place of residence, or where any part of the property is situated.
• High Court: the Chartered High Courts of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras have original testamentary jurisdiction. Where the estate or part of it falls within their ordinary original civil jurisdiction, you file on the testamentary side of the High Court.

If assets lie in more than one district or state, you file in one competent court and that grant can be used elsewhere, sometimes after an extra step. Get the jurisdiction right at the start, because filing in the wrong court wastes months.

04Drafting and filing the probate petition

The application is made by a petition under Section 276. A clear, complete petition moves faster, so set out:

• the date of the will and the date of death of the person who made it;
• that the document is the last will, and that it was validly made and signed, with the witnesses;
• the full list of assets and their value, which decides the court fee;
• the names of the legal heirs and the people who benefit under the will;
• a statement that the petitioner is the executor named in the will.

You attach the original will, the death certificate, and an affidavit of at least one attesting witness proving the signing of the will. If both witnesses have died or cannot be found, the court accepts other proof of the signatures. For what a valid will should contain, see the format of a will in India.

05Citations and how objections work

Once the petition is admitted, the court issues citations under Section 283. A citation is a public and personal notice that tells the heirs and the world that a probate application has been made, so that anyone who wants to object can come forward.

Notice is usually sent to the near heirs and also published, for example in a newspaper. If nobody objects within the time given, the matter proceeds as uncontested and the court grants probate after being satisfied the will is genuine. If an heir files a caveat and objects, the petition turns into a contested testamentary suit, where both sides lead evidence on whether the will is valid. A contest can take a long time, which is why it helps to track every hearing.

06Court fee and documents

Probate carries an ad valorem court fee, that is a fee worked out on the value of the estate covered by the grant. The rate and any upper limit are set by the Court Fees Act as applied in your state, so two states can charge different amounts on the same estate. Value the assets honestly in the petition, because the fee and the grant both rest on that figure.

Keep certified copies of everything. Fees and stamp rules change, so confirm the current court fee for your state before you file.

07How to track the probate matter

A probate petition, especially a contested one, moves through admission, citations, evidence and final order over many dates. You can follow a District Court matter on the national eCourts services portal using the case number or the party name, and a High Court testamentary matter on that High Court's own case status page. Note each next date, because a missed citation return or a missed hearing can set the case back.

08Where Claw fits

Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.

A probate case runs for months, and a contested one for years, through admission, citations, objections, evidence and the final grant. Claw tracks cases, orders and hearing dates across 9,102 courts, benches and forums, so an executor or an advocate can follow a probate petition by party name and get the next date without checking cause lists by hand. You can also search more than 30 crore judgments, with Supreme Court rulings from 1950 and High Court rulings from 1990, to see how courts have treated questions like proof of a will, suspicious circumstances and the rights of heirs, with results in under 5 seconds. Claw does not use your case documents to train its AI models.

Create a FREE Claw account to track your probate matter by party name and follow every hearing, and use case search across Indian courts to find judgments on proving a will.

09Sources and further reading

• India Code (Indian Succession Act, 1925, bare text): indiacode.nic.in
• eCourts (District Court case status): districts.ecourts.gov.in
• Claw: clawlaw.in

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Whether probate is needed, which court applies and the court fee all turn on your facts and your state, so take advice from an advocate before you file.

10Frequently asked questions