HOW TO OBTAIN A LEGAL HEIR CERTIFICATE IN INDIA ?After a sudden demise of a family member, his/her legal heirs must obtain a legal heir certificate in order for transferring the assets of the deceased. In order to establish the relationship between the deceased and his/her legal heirs legal heir certificate is a very important document. After obtaining the death certificate from municipality/ municipal corporation, it is necessary for the successors to apply for this legal heir certificate in order to claim their right over the properties and dues of the deceased person. Generally, a lawyer helps to draft and register a legal heir certificate. WHO ARE LEGAL HEIRS? The persons hereinafter mentioned are considered to be the legal heirs and can claim a legal heir certificate in India : 1. Parents of the deceased2. Siblings of the deceased 3. Spouse of the deceased4. Children of the deceased HOW LEGAL HEIR CERTIFICATES ARE DIFFERENT FROM SUCCESSION CERTIFICATES? Legal heir certificates are different from a succession certificate and has its own limitations.• Legal heir certificates can be used in matters such as claiming employee benefits, insurance claims and for property claims. • Unlike Indian Succession act a legal heir certificate is not a conclusive proof under the law of succession in India USES OF LEGAL HEIR CERTIFICATESA legal heir certificate identifies the rightful successors who can claim the assets/properties of the deceased person.To lay a claim over a deceased person’s property all eligible successors must have this certificate for :1. Claiming insurance2. Sanctioning and processing family pension of the deceased employee. 3. Transferring the deceased person’s assets and properties to his /her successors. 4. Receiving dues such as gratuity, provident fund etc from the government. 5. Receiving salary arrears of the deceased. 6. Gaining employment based on compassionate appointments. PROCEDURE FOR OBTAINING LEGAL HEIR CERTIFICATETo obtain Legal Heir certificate You must approach the area/Taluk Thasildar, or from the corporation/municipality office of your area, and also the District civil court. The certificate names all legal heirs of the deceased person and will be issued to you only after a proper enquiry. To obtain a Legal Heir Certificate you must follow the steps listed below:1. APPROACH THE TALUK OFFICEThe applicant has to visit the Tehsildar or Taluk office. An alternate option is when the he chooses to approach a lawyer from the District Civil Court.2. RECEIVE THE APPLICATION FORMThe applicant will have to obtain the application form from the concerned Tehsildar officer.3. ENTER THE DETAILSThe applicant then will have to enter all the required details in the application form.4. ATTACH THE DOCUMENTSOnce all the details are entered, the applicant will have to attach all the mandatory documents to the application form.5. AFFIXING STAMPThe applicant will have to to affix a stamp of Rs. 2 in the application form.6.SUBMIT THE APPLICATIONOnes this is done, he applicant has to furnish the application form to the authorized officer in the Tehsildar office.7. VERIFICATION PROCESSThereafter the application is verified by the Village Administrative Officer and Revenue Inspector.8. ISSUING THE CERTIFICATEAfter completing all the verification processes, the certificate will then be issued by the concerned authority mentioning all the legal heirs of the deceased. Generally it takes 30 days to obtain a Legal Heir Certificate but you have to approach the Revenue Division Officer (RDO) or the sub collector if there is an unnecessary delay or the concerned authorities fails to respond.REQUIRED DOCUMENTS TO OBTAIN A LEGAL HEIR CERTIFICATEThe following documents are required to be submitted to the appropriate authority in order to obtain a legal heir certificate: • Signed application form•Identity/address proof of the applicant( voter id/ Aadhar card/driving licence/passport or any other government issued identity card) • A self undertaking affidavit• Death certificate of the deceased• Address proof of the deceased( any valid identity proof or telephone/mobile bill, gas bill, bank passbook with the name and address of the deceased) • Date of birth proof of all the legal heirs. ( Birth certificate , school transfer/leaving certificate, PAN card, passport, etc)

MATERNITY BENEFITS AND THE NEW CHANGES. Maternity relates to a state of being a mother. Maternity leave is given to a woman who is pregnant and is allowed to be absent from work in the weeks before and after she gives birth to a child.In this blog, I shall be discussing about the maternity benefits and the new changes that has been introduced in the present era.INTRODUCTION Today there are plenty of women employees ballooned within the markets in India. It was obvious and the need for maternity benefits became an increasingly common trend which is initiated for the well- being of the mother and her child. It was in 1961, that the Maternity Benefit Act 1961, which aimed at regulating equal benefits for women employees was passed by the then Indian Government. There were several international organizations which recommended a maternity leave for minimum 24 weeks for the welfare of both the mother and the child.THE AMENDMENTThe Maternity Bill is an amendment to the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. It was passed in the Rajya Sabha on August 11, 2016; on March 09, 2017 in Lok Sabha and finally received an assent from the President of India on March 27, 2017.It is from April 1, 2017 that the provisions of The Maternity Benefit Act, 2017 are effective.The Maternity Benefit Act 1961 had laws to protect the employment of a women during her maternity period and she got entitled to maternity benefit which means full paid absence from work so that she can take care of her child. This Act is applicable to all the establishments employing 10 or more employees. NEED FOR MATERNITY BENEFITS1.    The foremost reason for availing maternity benefits is to help a new mother adjust with her new role and to protect the health of the mother along with the well-being of the child.2.    Moreover, maternity leave is essential for strengthening families and also helps in inculcating the right values in infants.3.    In this competitive world where both the spouse have to work for a decent living, the fact remains unavoidable that this situation has led to more women joining the work field and thus they have to juggle multiple roles in the family.Thus, Maternity leave and other such benefits permit women to play various roles like providing financial support to the family and also allowing them to stay at home in between the formative years of the child. APPLICABILITYThis act is applied to all the women who work in an establishment having 10 or more employees, engaged directly or through a consultant. Dismissal of a pregnant woman is considered unlawful. In case any employer dismisses a female employee on the grounds of pregnancy and is found guilty of doing so shall be punished under section 12 of the Maternity Benefit Act, 2017. DURATION OF LEAVEThis Act increases the length of the paid maternity leaves to 26 weeks from 12 weeks and this period is applied to women nurturing their first or second child. In case a women is expecting her third child or higher will get a paid maternity leave for a period of 12 weeks which is further split in the form of 6 weeks pre- delivery and 6 weeks post-delivery.This act now is even applicable to adoptive mothers and so every such mother is liable to receive 12 weeks of paid maternity leave.To add to the benefits, this act has even introduced a new option which is ‘work from home’ options for the new mother. Through this, women can opt to work from home as per the requirement after the stipulated time period of 26 weeks. CRECHES FACILITYThis act makes it compulsory for factories and shops which have employed more than 50 women to have within the factory a crèche facility and women employed in the establishment should be permitted to use this facility at least four times in a day. AWARENESSThis act makes it mandatory for the shop owners and employers to create awareness about the benefits and ensures that the eligible women get their rights and all such information must be made accessible to employees either in writing or electronically. MAJOR CHANGES IN THE PRESENT ERA·      The duration of paid maternity has been increased now from 12 weeks to 26 weeks.·      The accessibility to the paid leave has now been extended to eight weeks before the expected due date instead of the previous six weeks.·      This benefit has now been extended to commissioning and adoptive mothers.·      ‘Work from home’ option has been introduced which can be opted after the expiry of the paid leave period for which terms and conditions have to be negotiated by the employer.·       It is now compulsory for the establishments having more than 50 employees to have an in-house crèche facility.·      Women have permission to use the crèche facility for a maximum of four times a day.·      Education of women about their rights to such benefits is now mandatory. SIGNIFICANCEThe paid leave has been extended from 12 weeks to 26 weeks which is a welcome change that goes in line with the commended time for such leave as prescribed by the World Health Organization (WHO). This extension eventually helps in nurturing the healthy development of both the new mother and the infant. Also, as per the latest amendment in accordance with practice suggested by the Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 which further indicates at least 14 weeks of maternity benefits for a new mother. Moreover this change in the present era has helped to improve India’s rank concerning benefits provided to mothers. India now ranks third worldwide after Canada and Norway in the number of benefits provided to women. DISADVANTAGES·      Many scientists believe that these changes encourages patriarchy as it shifts the responsibility of childbearing towards the mother.·      Many firms do not allow women to apply for job vacancies as they will eventually have to extend these privileges to them at the time of childbirth and thus this has an adverse impact to the job opportunities available to women.·      In many cases it is found that such provisions lack clarity and thus, making implementation becomes difficult.CONCLUSIONDespite of the fact that the maternity benefits available to women is increasing and is a welcome step, the government needs to make sure that the industries do not lose their competitiveness because of such provisions. In case the government could help in bringing about more uniformity in labo laws involving maternity benefits, it would result in serving women all over India in handling responsibilities entitled to them.