How to claim post office savings schemes after a death

Physical passbooks and certificates are the primary record here, so search thoroughly — files, lockers, old envelopes. Certificates from the years when they were issued on paper are easy to miss.

If a certificate or passbook is genuinely lost, a duplicate can be issued on application with an indemnity, but it adds time. Do that as a separate step before the claim rather than in parallel.

Note which post office each was opened at. Claims are generally made there, not at any post office.

Some schemes end on the holder's death and are simply paid out. The Senior Citizens Savings Scheme is the one most worth asking about: where the account was held jointly, or where the spouse is the sole nominee, the spouse may continue it on the same terms — provided the spouse themselves meets the scheme's eligibility on the date of death, which in practice means being a senior citizen.

There is one clear exception. Where both spouses had opened their own separate SCSS accounts, the deceased holder's account cannot be continued and must be closed.

This decision has a price attached, and it runs the opposite way to PPF. On an SCSS account being closed, the scheme rate is paid only up to the date of death; from that date until final closure the balance earns the much lower Post Office Savings Account rate. So where the account is going to be closed, delay costs real money — and where continuation is available and the family does not need the cash, continuing preserves a rate that is usually better than anything else available. Ask explicitly; it will not normally be offered.

The claim is made on Form 11, prescribed under Rule 15 of the Government Savings Promotion Rules, 2018 — the application for settlement of a deceased claim case. Where a nomination is registered the process is comparatively simple, and the post office is required to give the nominee precedence over other claimants (unless a legal heir produces a succession certificate, probate or letters of administration before the claim is sanctioned).

Where there is no nomination, the limit is ₹5 lakh. Up to that amount the authorised officer may pay the rightful claimant on the strength of affidavits and an indemnity, with no court document. Above ₹5 lakh a succession certificate issued by a court is required.

There is one timing rule that catches families out: where the account carried no nomination, the claim can only be submitted after six months from the date of death. Where a nomination, will or succession certificate exists, there is no such waiting period and no time limit.

Two practical points. The claim generally needs the identity and address proof of two witnesses as well as the claimant's own. And where the deceased held several accounts or certificates at the same post office, each needs its own claim application and its own set of documents — one bundle will not cover the lot, which is the commonest reason a family makes a second trip.

On where to go: the claim is sanctioned by the office holding the account, but once sanctioned the closure and payment can generally be taken at any CBS post office. Payment in deceased claim cases is normally made by crossed cheque.

One warning if the death was some years ago. An account left unclaimed long enough is frozen, and a claim on it can then only be processed at the linked head post office rather than a local branch — so an old claim means a longer trip, and is worth starting sooner rather than later.

For certificate schemes such as NSC and KVP, interest generally accrues to maturity and the claim settles at the value applicable on the date of payment rather than the date of death. Ask how the figure was computed.

For the Monthly Income Scheme and similar, the monthly payments stop and the deposit is refunded, sometimes with a deduction depending on how long it ran.

Where TDS or a Form 15H was in place, the position changes after the death, as with bank deposits.