Nobody reads this one until they have to. If you're here because you've lost someone and there's a folio to deal with, I'm sorry, and I'll keep this practical. The process is called transmission, it is not the same as redemption, and how straightforward it is depends almost entirely on one thing: whether a nominee was recorded.
What transmission actually is
Transmission is the fund house transferring units from the deceased investor's folio to the person entitled to receive them. The units move; they aren't automatically sold. The person receiving them can hold on or redeem later, which matters more than it sounds, because families are often told they must "close everything" and that isn't true.
It's worth understanding that difference early. A grieving family redeeming a long-held folio in a hurry can trigger tax and exit load that a transfer alone wouldn't have. There's usually no rush on the redemption decision once the transfer is done.
If a nominee was recorded
This is the shorter road, and it's why we go on about nomination so much.
The fund house or registrar will typically need a transmission request form signed by the nominee, a death certificate, the nominee's own KYC and bank details, and identification. Requirements differ slightly between registrars and can vary with the value involved, so ask for the current checklist for that specific folio rather than working from a general list you found online. That one phone call saves a rejected submission.
Once submitted correctly, this is usually a matter of weeks rather than months. Most of the delay families experience isn't the fund house being slow, it's paperwork going back and forth because something didn't match.
If there was no nominee
This is the harder road, and it's the one we see most often with folios opened fifteen or twenty years ago.
Without a nomination on record, the claimant has to establish legal entitlement. Depending on the value and the circumstances that can mean a will, a succession certificate, a legal heirship certificate, an indemnity, or a combination, and sometimes a no-objection from other heirs. The specific requirement depends on the amount involved and the registrar's policy, and the thresholds do change, so again, ask for the current position rather than assuming.
Realistically this takes months, and it usually needs a lawyer. Meanwhile the investment sits frozen, which is the cruel part, because families often need exactly that money to get through exactly this period.
If you're reading this and your own folios have nobody named, please stop and fix that this week. It takes minutes and our guide on adding or changing a nominee walks through it.
Start by finding out what actually exists
Before any forms, find the full picture. A consolidated account statement lists holdings across fund houses in one document and can be requested from either registrar using the deceased's PAN and registered email.
Families are frequently surprised by what turns up. A folio started through a colleague years ago, a small holding from a bank relationship, an old scheme nobody mentioned. Working folio by folio from whatever statements happen to be in a file usually means missing something, and finding it two years later is a much harder conversation.
If you can't access the registered email, that becomes the first problem to solve, and it's a common one. The registrars have a process for it, but it needs the death certificate and proof of relationship, so build that into your timeline.
What happens to a running SIP
This one gets missed constantly, and it causes avoidable distress.
If the deceased had a running SIP, instalments will keep attempting until the bank mandate stops or the account is closed. Families sometimes see debits continuing for weeks afterwards, which is upsetting on top of everything else. Cancel the SIP and the mandate as a separate instruction, early, and don't assume the transmission request handles it.
The same goes for any SWP or STP that was set up. They're separate standing instructions and each needs stopping on its own.
If the folio was held jointly
A jointly held folio follows a different and generally simpler route. The surviving holder can usually have the deceased's name removed from the folio with a death certificate and the required form, and the units continue in the surviving holder's name.
Worth knowing: this isn't the same as nomination and it doesn't remove the need for one. Once the folio is in a single name, nomination on it should be recorded fresh, because the arrangement that protected it before has just been used up.
The three things that stall most claims
- A name that doesn't match. The folio says "R. K. Sharma", the death certificate says "Rajkumar Sharma", the PAN says something else again. This is the single most common blocker, and it's fixed with an affidavit or supporting documentation rather than by arguing.
- An old mobile number or email on the folio. Verification goes to whatever contact was last recorded, which might be a number disconnected years ago.
- A minor nominee with no guardian named. The nomination looks complete but isn't, and the claim can't proceed until it's resolved.
None of these are dramatic. They're all paperwork problems. But each one adds weeks, and they arrive at the point when a family has the least patience for weeks.
How long it takes, realistically
With a nominee on record and a clean set of documents, weeks. Without one, months, and the succession documentation itself is usually the long pole rather than anything the fund house does.
What decides it more than anything is whether the first submission is complete. Every round of "please also send" adds days at both ends, and families often make three or four submissions when one would have done. So before you send anything, ring the registrar, describe the folio and the situation, and ask them to confirm the exact list for that case. Ten minutes on the phone is worth more than any checklist, including this one.
A few practical notes
Keep several attested copies of the death certificate. Every institution wants one and none of them give it back, and getting more later is another trip.
Do the bank account first if you can. Most of these processes need a working bank account in the claimant's name with KYC completed, and having that ready removes a dependency from everything else.
And don't let anyone rush you into redeeming immediately after the transfer completes. Once the units are in your name the decision is yours and it can wait until you've thought about it, or until the household's situation is clearer.
If you'd rather not do this alone
We handle transmission for families regularly, including for folios that weren't originally invested through us. There's no charge for helping you work out what exists and what each registrar needs.
Myfolios is an AMFI-registered mutual fund distributor (ARN-145870) working since 2014. Get in touch and we'll go through the statement with you. And if you're reading this in the abstract rather than out of need, the useful thing you can do today is check your own folios: nomination on each one, and a family member who knows they exist. Our page on planning for senior citizens covers the same ground from the other direction.
