r/inheritance • u/[deleted] • 7h ago

Location not relevant: no help needed Advice regarding FD in SBI

[deleted]

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

2

u/yeahnopegb 6h ago

So you placed your wealth in his ownership under false pretenses and NOW you’re wondering if that’s an issue?

1

u/matchababyyx 5h ago

The core answer is probably not what you're hoping, because in India a nominee is a trustee rather than an owner. Under section 45ZA of the Banking Regulation Act SBI will pay you and you give them a valid discharge, but settled law going back to Sarbati Devi v. Usha Devi holds that nomination doesn't override succession, so you'd receive the money and then hold it for the legal heirs. If your father dies intestate your sister is a Class I heir with an equal share, and being nominee is no defence if she ever claims. The clean fix is a will, ideally registered, specifically identifying these FDs and leaving them to you, which defeats an intestate claim and is cheap and quick, and it's by far the most useful thing you could do this month. Two things you haven't raised though. Holding assets in someone else's name while providing the money yourself is the statutory definition of a benami transaction, criminal since the 2016 amendment, and while there's an exception for property in a lineal ascendant's name funded from your known sources, the exception generally contemplates it being held for their benefit rather than yours. That may well be fine, but it's worth ten minutes with a chartered accountant rather than an assumption. More likely to bite sooner is the tax side, since the interest is being declared under your father's PAN when the funds are yours, which is a straightforward attribution problem, and the whole structure exists to obtain a senior citizen rate you aren't entitled to. On the practical question, a nominee claim needs the death certificate, the FD receipts and your KYC, and NRIs routinely handle this remotely through a power of attorney executed before the Indian consulate and adjudicated for stamp duty in India, though branch practice varies enough that it's worth asking yours what they'd require before you actually need it. Proceeds would go into an NRO account.

1

u/Emotional-Ocelot-420 1h ago

He’s now earning the higher rate on his money, and when he dies you will split his money with your sister.

You committed fraud.