Legal Heir / Succession Certificate in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Heir Ship Certificate)

What is a legal heir certificate in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu?

A legal heir certificate in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu is issued as the "Heir Ship Certificate" by the Office of the Mamlatdar. It is listed among the Mamlatdar's certificate services on SUGAM, the Union Territory's online citizen services portal at sugam.dddgov.in, alongside the income certificate, domicile certificate, caste certificate, OBC certificate, NCL (OBC renewal) certificate and EWS certificate.

Two features of this UT genuinely differ from most of India, and both trip people up.

First, the issuing officer is the Mamlatdar, not a Tahsildar. The UT retains the Gujarat-style revenue designation, inherited from its history as the former Portuguese territories and its administrative links to Gujarat. If you search for a "Tahsildar" office in Daman or Diu, you will not find one.

Second, the UT runs three districts under one administration, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman, and Diu; each with its own Mamlatdar office. SUGAM lists Mamlatdar Daman and Mamlatdar Diu separately, along with separate Collector, EOCS and Civil Registrar cum Sub Registrar offices for each. You must apply to the office covering the district where the deceased ordinarily resided, not the office that is closest to you.

Families in the UT need the certificate for:

• Family pension, arrears and gratuity where a government employee has died.
• Provident fund and group insurance claims.
• Compassionate appointment in UT administration service.
• Mutation of land and property, using the Mamlatdar's own Form I & XIV (Record of Rights), Form 9 (mutation entries) and certified copies, all of which are available on the same SUGAM portal.
• Release of bank balances, deposits and scheme dues.

Heirship certificate or succession certificate, which do you need?

Two separate routes exist, and choosing wrongly costs months.

The Heir Ship Certificate (Mamlatdar route) is administrative. It records who the heirs are. It does not fix shares, does not resolve a dispute, and does not by itself transfer ownership. It is the right document for pension, provident fund, gratuity, compassionate appointment, land mutation and most routine departmental claims.

A succession certificate (civil court route) is an order of the competent civil court under the Indian Succession Act, 1925. The court publishes notice, hears objections, and then authorises the holder to receive the debts and securities of the deceased. It carries court fee assessed on the value involved, needs an advocate in practice, and takes months rather than weeks. Banks releasing substantial deposits, depositories transferring shares and mutual fund registrars normally require this order rather than the Mamlatdar's certificate.

Note that the Mamlatdar in this UT also runs a court function; SUGAM publishes a "Mamlatdar Court Case Status" service for Daman and Diu. That Mamlatdar's court handles revenue matters such as tenancy and possession disputes; it is not the court that issues succession certificates. A succession certificate still comes from the civil court.

Where the deceased left a will, the executor may need probate or letters of administration from the court. Neither the heirship certificate nor a succession certificate replaces probate.

Who can apply, and who cannot?

You can apply if:

• You are the surviving spouse, son, daughter, mother or father of the deceased.
• You are another heir under the personal law applicable to the deceased.
• You are the legal guardian of a minor heir, applying on the minor's behalf.
• The deceased ordinarily resided in Daman, Diu or Dadra and Nagar Haveli, which is what gives that Mamlatdar jurisdiction.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not an heir of the deceased. A creditor, employer, neighbour or landlord is not eligible, whatever paperwork they hold.
• The deceased resided outside the Union Territory: in Gujarat, Maharashtra or elsewhere. Apply to that state's revenue authority; your own UT address does not create jurisdiction.
• You are applying in order to exclude another heir. Ground verification exists precisely to find every heir, and a suppressed heir is grounds for cancellation later.
• Heirship itself is disputed between family members. A Mamlatdar cannot adjudicate that; it goes to the civil court.
• You need authority to collect large bank deposits or securities, which only a succession certificate confers.
• The death has not been registered. Register it with the Civil Registrar cum Sub Registrar or the local body first and obtain the death certificate.

What documents are required?

Because the UT does not publish a detailed document checklist for the Heir Ship Certificate on SUGAM, confirm the exact list at the Mamlatdar's counter before you file, and carry the optional items rather than making a second trip.

How to apply for a heirship certificate in the Union Territory

1. Register the death first with the Civil Registrar cum Sub Registrar, the municipal council or the panchayat, and obtain the death certificate. The UT's Civil Registrar cum Sub Registrar offices for Daman and Diu are listed on SUGAM.
2. Open sugam.dddgov.in and create a citizen login with your mobile number, verifying the OTP. One SUGAM login covers the Collector, Mamlatdar, Sub Registrar and EOCS services.
3. Open the Mamlatdar office page for the correct district; Mamlatdar Daman or Mamlatdar Diu, or the Dadra and Nagar Haveli office — and select "Heir Ship Certificate" from the certificate list.
4. Enter the deceased person's details; full name exactly as printed on the death certificate, date of death, and the UT address of ordinary residence.
5. List every heir with name, age and relationship to the deceased. List them all; an omitted heir is what gets certificates challenged years later.
6. Upload the documents, death certificate, residence proof, identity proofs and the signed affidavit: into their labelled slots.
7. Pay any charge shown on the payment screen and save the receipt.
8. Submit and note the acknowledgement number, and ask the Mamlatdar's office to note the applicable delivery timeline against it.
9. Cooperate with ground verification. The Circle Officer or Talati will check the household and report to the Mamlatdar. Answer your phone; this is where most files sit.
10. Collect or download the signed certificate once the status shows it as issued.

How to apply offline at the Mamlatdar's office

1. Visit the Office of the Mamlatdar for the district where the deceased ordinarily resided: Daman, Diu, or Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
2. Ask for the Heir Ship Certificate application and fill it in, listing every heir.
3. Attach self-attested photocopies of the death certificate, residence proof and identity proofs, along with the signed affidavit, and carry originals for verification.
4. Submit at the counter, pay the notified charge, and take a printed receipt carrying your application number.
5. Track the file using that number on SUGAM or at the same counter, and collect the signed certificate when it is issued.

How do I check the status of my application?

• Online: on SUGAM at sugam.dddgov.in, using the acknowledgement number from your receipt.
• At the Mamlatdar's office: which can tell you whether the Circle Officer's or Talati's report has come in.
• At the Collector's office: SUGAM lists separate Collector offices for Daman and for Diu, and the Collector is the escalation above the Deputy Collector.
• Grievance: the UT administration publishes a grievance redressal route on ddd.gov.in, and the central CPGRAMS portal at pgportal.gov.in also covers the UT.

SUGAM publishes a seven working day timeline for the Mamlatdar's income, domicile and caste certificates, with the Deputy Collector as first appellate authority and the Collector above that. The Heir Ship Certificate does not carry a published timeline on the portal, so ask for the applicable period in writing when you file, and use the same Deputy Collector and Collector escalation if the file stalls.

How long is it valid, and does it need renewal?

A heirship certificate records a fact fixed at the date of death. It carries no expiry date and no renewal process.

Banks, insurers and employers sometimes apply their own freshness rule and ask for a copy issued within the last six months to one year. That is the receiving institution's requirement rather than the Revenue Department's; if you are asked, simply apply again through SUGAM.

Why do applications get rejected?

• An omitted heir found during ground verification.
• Name or spelling mismatch between the death certificate, the ration card and Aadhaar.
• Wrong district office, filing at Daman when the deceased lived in Diu, or at the UT office when the deceased lived in Gujarat.
• Unregistered death, or a death certificate not yet issued.
• Missing or unsigned affidavit from the heirs.
• Illegible uploads that the verifying officer cannot read.
• A contested heirship, where the Mamlatdar declines and refers the family to the civil court.

What does it cost, and what should you refuse to pay?

Pay only the charge shown on the SUGAM payment screen or the notified charge printed at the Mamlatdar's counter, and insist on a printed receipt for whatever you pay. The Revenue Department levies nothing beyond its listed fee. If you use a service centre to file on your behalf, the notified service-centre charge on top is small and must also be receipted.

Agents promising a "heirship certificate in 48 hours" for thousands of rupees are selling access that does not exist. The UT runs no paid priority queue, and the Circle Officer's ground verification cannot be bought out. Apply yourself on SUGAM or at the Mamlatdar's counter, and never hand your Aadhaar OTP to an agent. No revenue official needs it to issue your certificate.

The genuinely expensive route is the court. A succession certificate carries court fee calculated on the value of the estate, plus advocate's fees, and it is worth taking on only if a bank, depository or registrar has asked for one in writing.

Grievance and helpline route

• Portal: sugam.dddgov.in, for application, tracking and downloads across the Collector, Mamlatdar and Sub Registrar offices.
• UT administration: ddd.gov.in, which links to the revenue services portal and the grievance redressal system.
• District level: the Mamlatdar who issues the certificate, then the Deputy Collector as first appellate authority.
• UT level: the Collector of Daman, Diu or Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and the Revenue Department at Vidyut Bhavan, Kachigam, Daman.
• Grievance: the central public grievance portal at pgportal.gov.in.

Quote your SUGAM acknowledgement number in every complaint. Without it, no office can trace the file.