NADRA Succession Certificate & Letter of Administration in Pakistan

Estate Documentation for Legal Heirs

NADRA currently facilitates issuance of Succession Certificates for movable assets and Letters of Administration for immovable property under the applicable federal and provincial succession laws. The process is designed to allow qualifying legal heirs to obtain succession documentation without ordinary court proceedings where the matter is suitable for the administrative route.

Movable and Immovable Assets

The distinction between the two documents matters. Bank balances, shares and similar movable assets ordinarily fall on the Succession Certificate side, while land, houses and other immovable property fall on the Letter of Administration side.

Succession Certificate vs Letter of Administration

An estate may contain both movable and immovable property. The application should identify the assets accurately rather than using the two terms interchangeably.

Who Can Use the NADRA Route?

NADRA’s current published eligibility states that the deceased and legal heirs must be Pakistani citizens and the property/assets must be in Pakistan. One of the legal heirs must visit in person after completing the required documentation at a designated NADRA site, subject to the process applicable in the relevant province or territory.

Where heirs are overseas, absent, unable to complete biometrics, disputed, unidentified or subject to another legal complication, the case should be reviewed before assuming the standard route will work.

Current NADRA Document Requirements

NADRA currently lists the following core documents:

• death certificate of the deceased;
• CNIC Cancellation Certificate issued by NADRA;
• Family Registration Certificate (FRC);
• list of legal heirs with CNIC copies;
• details of movable and immovable property; and
• Letter of Authorisation/Affidavit attested by an Oath Commissioner.

Individual cases may require additional material to establish title, asset particulars, heir identity or authority. A bank, housing authority, land-record authority, company or other asset-holder may also ask for its own transfer documents after the succession document is issued.

How the NADRA Succession Process Works

NADRA describes a five-step administrative process through designated succession facilities. In practical terms, the case involves identification of the deceased and heirs, submission of the required estate information, verification of family data, publication/public notice and biometric or other prescribed verification before issuance where no disqualifying dispute prevents the administrative process.

1. Identify all legal heirs

Do not omit an heir simply because the family has informally agreed that one person will receive the asset. The legal-heir record and the eventual distribution/transfer arrangements are distinct issues.

2. Identify the estate correctly

Prepare a complete asset list: bank account details, shares, securities, vehicles, property descriptions, title documents and any other asset for which succession authority is needed.

3. Prepare authorisation and supporting documents

The applicant should ensure that names, CNIC numbers and family relationships are consistent across the death certificate, CNIC cancellation record, FRC and asset documents.

4. Publication and objection period

NADRA’s current guidance states a processing period of 14 days after publication. This should not be misrepresented as a guaranteed total completion time because document preparation, biometrics, corrections or objections can extend the matter.

5. Issuance and subsequent asset transfer

The Succession Certificate or Letter of Administration is then used before the relevant bank, authority, company, housing society, land-record office or other asset-holder. Issuance does not itself complete every downstream mutation or transfer formality.

Current NADRA Fees

NADRA’s published fee schedule, last updated 7 July 2026, states:

These are NADRA’s published administrative fees and are separate from any professional legal fee, affidavit/oath-commissioner expense, certified-copy cost, property transfer charge, tax, mutation fee or other third-party expense.

Overseas Pakistani Legal Heirs

An overseas heir should not assume that a general power of attorney automatically eliminates every biometric or personal-verification requirement. The applicable NADRA succession process, place of application, identity documents and any consular or biometric facility should be checked for that heir’s circumstances.

If a power of attorney or authorisation is required for connected property or litigation work, it should be drafted narrowly enough to identify the deceased, estate, relevant proceedings and powers actually needed.

What Happens if There Is an Objection or Dispute?

The simplified administrative route is designed for cases that can be resolved through the prescribed succession process. A material dispute may require judicial determination. Examples include:

• dispute over who the legal heirs are;
• challenge to marriage, parentage or adoption/guardianship status relevant to succession;
• conflicting claims over ownership of an asset;
• alleged forged documents or fraudulent heir inclusion/exclusion;
• dispute over a will where legally relevant;
• an heir’s objection that cannot be resolved administratively; or
• a broader estate/title dispute requiring evidence and adjudication.

A decline or inability to use the NADRA route does not necessarily mean the heir has no succession right. It may mean that the matter must proceed before the competent court or other authority.

Does a Succession Certificate Decide Each Heir’s Islamic Share?

Succession documentation identifies entitlement to represent or receive the estate under the applicable law and process, but inheritance shares must still be determined according to the personal law governing the deceased and the legally established family structure. No page should state fixed percentages without knowing the surviving heirs.

For example, the shares can change depending on whether the deceased left a spouse, sons, daughters, parents, predeceased children whose descendants may have statutory representation rights, or other relevant heirs.

Letter of Administration and Property Transfer

A Letter of Administration concerning immovable property is an important succession instrument, but actual mutation/transfer may still require compliance with the authority controlling the property—such as revenue authorities, CDA, a housing society or another land-owning agency. Title documents, dues, taxes and authority-specific transfer requirements should be reviewed separately.

Accuracy and False Information

NADRA expressly warns applicants that providing fake information or forged documentation in a succession application may lead to legal proceedings. Every heir, identity document and asset should therefore be checked carefully before filing.

How Islamabad Lawyers & Attorneys Can Assist

Our Islamabad team can assist with succession-document review, heir and asset schedules, affidavits/authorisations, legal analysis of objections, coordination of supporting property records and representation where a matter requires court proceedings. The firm does not issue NADRA certificates and cannot guarantee administrative approval or a fixed completion date.

Islamabad Office: Office No. 5, 2nd Floor, Laraib Plaza, Karachi Company, G-9 Markaz, Islamabad.
Phone / WhatsApp: +92 333 1127836

For Islamabad property-title and transfer disputes, see our Property Lawyers in Islamabad page.