IEPF Claim by a Nominee: Recovering Shares After the Shareholder's Death

When a shareholder dies and a valid nomination is registered on the folio, the claim is far simpler than most families expect. The nominee does not need a succession certificate or a court process for the transmission itself — the nomination does that work.

Step 1 — Gather the core documents

You need the original death certificate, the nominee's PAN and Aadhaar, the folio details, and proof that the nomination was registered (the RTA can confirm this from their records even if the family has no copy).

Step 2 — Transmission into the nominee's name

Submit a transmission request to the company's RTA with the death certificate and nominee KYC. The RTA moves the holding into the nominee's name. Note: if the shares have already been transferred to IEPF, the transmission and the IEPF claim are often processed together — the company verifies the nominee's entitlement as part of the claim.

Step 3 — File IEPF-5 as the nominee

The nominee files the IEPF-5 form with their own demat and bank details, attaching the death certificate and nomination proof to the physical pack sent to the nodal officer. The demat account must be in the nominee's name with matching PAN.

Step 4 — Verification and credit

The company's verification report confirms the nomination, and the IEPF Authority credits shares to the nominee's demat account and dividends to their bank. Clean nominee cases typically complete in five to eight months.

An important legal point

A nominee is a custodian, not automatically the owner. Under succession law the shares belong to the legal heirs, and the nominee holds them in trust. Where the nominee is also the sole heir this changes nothing in practice; where there are several heirs, it is wise to settle the distribution in writing at the start to avoid disputes later.

If your parent or spouse held shares with a nomination in your name, share the details below. We confirm the nomination with the RTA, prepare the full pack and carry the claim through to credit.