Probate is no longer a statutory precondition to relying on a will. For most Delhi estates it never was. But a bank or a housing society can still insist on one as its own condition of doing business, and most of them will.
Two things are usually conflated in this question, and separating them answers it.
The first is whether the law requires probate. The second is whether the bank requires it. Those have had different answers for a long time, and since December 2025 they have diverged further.
What Section 213 used to do
Section 213 of the Indian Succession Act 1925 provided that no right as executor or legatee could be established in any court of justice unless probate or letters of administration had first been granted. It was the provision that made a grant a gateway rather than a choice.
It has been omitted in its entirety by the Repealing and Amending Act 2025, which received Presidential assent on 20 December 2025. The practical effect is that a beneficiary can now rely on a will directly, without first taking out a grant — unless another statute requires one, the court directs one, or the validity of the will is genuinely in issue. The amendment expressly saves proceedings already pending or concluded.
The part almost everyone gets wrong
Section 213 never applied everywhere. Read with Section 57, it bit hardest on the wills of Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains falling within the classes there — broadly, wills made within the former presidency towns of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay, or relating to immovable property situated within those territories.
For a will made in Delhi relating to property in Delhi, probate was never mandatory. A great many Delhi families have nonetheless obtained probate for decades, because a bank or a co-operative housing society insisted on it. That was an institutional requirement, not a statutory one, and the repeal does not change it — because it was never the statute doing the work.
So should you still take out a grant?
Often yes, but now as a matter of judgement rather than compulsion. A grant of probate or letters of administration is a judgment in rem: it binds the world, not merely the parties before the court. An ordinary civil decree binds only those who were party to it. That distinction is worth a great deal where:
- heirs are in more than one country, or are not participating;
- there is any prospect of the will being challenged, now or in ten years;
- the estate includes immovable property that will eventually be sold to a buyer whose advocate will ask questions;
- a bank, depository, society or registrar refuses to act without one — which they remain entitled to do as their own internal requirement;
- the will is old, unregistered, holographic, or the attesting witnesses are dead or untraceable.
For an ordinary uncontested estate with a registered will, heirs who all agree, and assets amounting to a deposit and a flat, the answer is now often no.
The gap between the statute and the counter
Expect the institution not to know. A branch manager, a society secretary or a sub-registrar is not reading amending Acts, and the internal circular that tells them what to accept will take time to be rewritten. Anticipate this rather than arguing it at the counter:
- Ask for the requirement in writing, identifying the internal policy or circular relied on. Requirements asserted verbally often soften when they have to be recorded.
- Where the institution has a threshold, establish what it is and whether the estate falls below it.
- Escalate to the nodal grievance officer rather than arguing with the branch, and put the statutory position in the letter without expecting it to be decisive on its own.
- Weigh the cost of the grant against the cost of the fight. Where the institution will not move and the asset is substantial, taking the grant is frequently cheaper than winning the argument.
If there is no will at all
None of this applies. Where a person dies intestate, the question is not probate but letters of administration, or a succession certificate where the assets are debts and securities, and the shares are fixed by the personal law that applies. The repeal of Section 213 changes nothing for an intestate estate.
If the estate has a cross-border element — an heir abroad, a will made or proved outside India, assets to be remitted — the analysis differs again and is dealt with in the cross-border page.
Questions people actually ask
Is probate mandatory in India in 2026?
No. Section 213 of the Indian Succession Act 1925, which made a grant a precondition to establishing a right as executor or legatee, was omitted by the Repealing and Amending Act 2025, with Presidential assent on 20 December 2025. A beneficiary can now rely on the will directly, unless another statute requires a grant, the court directs one, or the will's validity is genuinely in dispute.
Was probate ever mandatory in Delhi?
Generally not. Section 213 read with Section 57 applied principally to wills of Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains made within the former presidency towns of Calcutta, Madras and Bombay, or relating to immovable property there. A will made in Delhi concerning Delhi property fell outside that. Delhi families who obtained probate were usually meeting a bank's or a society's requirement, not the statute's.
Is probate mandatory for a registered will?
Registration and probate are separate things and neither has ever required the other. A registered will is easier to prove but registration has never made a grant compulsory, and following the omission of Section 213 a grant is not a statutory precondition in any event.
Can a bank still insist on probate?
Yes. An institution may impose its own conditions for releasing an asset, and the repeal of Section 213 does not remove that. The practical route is to ask for the requirement in writing, establish whether an internal threshold applies, and escalate to the nodal grievance officer rather than arguing at the branch.
Should I still take out probate even though it is optional?
Often yes. A grant is a judgment in rem and binds the world, where an ordinary decree binds only the parties. That matters where heirs are abroad or not participating, where a challenge to the will is conceivable, where immovable property will later be sold, or where the will is old or unregistered.
Most succession matters are lost to the wrong document rather than the wrong argument — a year spent on a certificate that was never going to be accepted. If you are not sure which grant your situation needs, that is the question worth settling first.