SEBI's New Transmission Rules 2026: How Your Family Claims Your Stocks and Mutual Funds After You're Gone

When someone dies holding shares or mutual fund units in their own name, their family has historically faced a slow, paperwork-heavy process to claim them — separate affidavits and no-objection certificates from other legal heirs, court-certified probate of a will, and physical verification of death certificates. On June 19, 2026, SEBI's board approved a revamped transmission framework; the circular followed on July 23, 2026 and the rules have applied since August 2026. It strips out much of this friction, specifically to make claiming a deceased family member's securities faster and cheaper.

The Combined Affidavit-Cum-NOC

The most immediate change is a combined affidavit-cum-no-objection-certificate. Claimants previously had to arrange a standalone affidavit and a separate NOC from other family members with a claim on the estate — two documents, often notarised separately, adding real time and legal expense. SEBI's revised framework merges these into one document, cutting both the paperwork and the cost of assembling it.

Quick Transmission Processing — For Small Claims

For small holdings, SEBI created a new Quick Transmission Processing category that waives most documentation entirely. Above QTP but within a higher band, SEBI also doubled the thresholds for its existing simplified-documentation route.

Other Simplifications

• Court-certified probate of a will is no longer mandatory for eligible claims, in line with recent amendments to succession law — often the single longest step in the old process
• QR-coded death certificates are now accepted for digital verification, alongside the original or an attested copy
• Mandatory PAN card submission is dropped where the deceased's PAN is already linked to the demat account

What Legal Heirs Should Actually Do

1. Get the exact value of the physical and demat holdings from the depository participant or registrar — that number decides which route applies: QTP, simplified documentation, or standard transmission
2. Gather the death certificate, QR-coded if the issuing authority provides one, plus the original or an attested copy
3. If more than one heir has a claim, prepare the combined affidavit-cum-NOC together rather than separately, since that is now accepted as a single document
4. For holdings above the QTP threshold, check whether probate is genuinely still needed for your specific case — many claims that previously required it no longer do under the amended succession-law alignment
5. If you hold your own investments and haven't added a nominee yet, do it now — a recorded nominee makes this entire process unnecessary for whoever inherits from you

If you are not sure what the deceased held, old folios without a PAN may not appear in any consolidated statement. SEBI's MITRA platform lets legal heirs search for them — see how to trace forgotten mutual fund folios on MITRA.