Simplification of Procedure for Issuance of the Letters of Administration / Succession Certificates

London: Upon death of any family member, legal heirs languish in courts for years before they are able to obtain Letters of Administration (for immovable properties) and Succession Certificates (for movable properties). Now without going to the Courts, the legal heirs can obtain Letters of Administration or Succession Certificates, as the case may be, through a quick five stage process facilitated by Succession Facilitation Unites operated by the National Database Registration Authority. Presently, one Facilitation Unit is operative in Islamabad dealing with properties/assets in the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) only. Shortly, NADRA will establish may more Succession Facilitation Units in other cities of Pakistan.

The Applicants have to submit a simple application form after which NADRA will issue public notice in leading local newspapers and on its website. Where no objections are received within fourteen days, the legal heirs whether in Pakistan or abroad (London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bradford, Jeddah, Riyadh, Medina, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha), can visit their local NADRA office in Pakistan or the Pakistan Missions abroad, as the case may be, in the above mentioned cities and conduct bio-metric verification. Once verification of the legal heirs is complete through bio-metrics, Succession Certificate or Letter of Administration will be issued in Applicant’s favour. Apart from the above-mentioned cities, the Government at the earliest is creating bio-metric verification centres in many other cities of the world.

Procedure for applying the Letters of Administration/Succession Certificates is as follows: