law: The Indian Succession Act, 1925
  Part VIII
  Representative Title to Property of Deceased on Succession
  211. Character and property of executor or administrator as such.-
  (1) The executor or administrator, as the case may be, of a deceased person is his legal representative for all purposes, and all the property of the deceased person vests in- him as such.
  (2) When the deceased was a Hindu, Muhammadan, Budhist, Sikh, 1[Jaina or Parsi] or an exempted person, nothing herein contained shall vest in an executor or administrator any property of the deceased person which would otherwise have passed by survivorship to some other person.
  1. Subs. by Act 16 of 1962, s. 2, for "or Jaina".
  212. Right to intestate's property.-
  (1) No right to any part of the property of a person who has died intestate can be established in any Court of Justice, unless letters of administration have first been granted by a Court of competent jurisdiction.
  (2) This section shall not apply in the case of the intestacy of a Hindu, Muhammadan, Buddhist, Sikh, Jaina, 2[Indian Christian or Parsi].
  2. Subs. by s. 3, ibid., for "or Indian Christian".
  213. Right as executor or legatee when established.-
  (1) No right as executor or legatee can be established in any Court of Justice, unless a Court of competent jurisdiction in 3[India] has granted probate of the will under which the right is claimed, or has granted letters of administration with the will or with a copy of an authenticated copy of the will annexed.
  1[(2) This section shall not apply in the case of wills made by Muhammadans 2[or Indian Christians], and shall only apply-
  (i) in the case of wills made by any Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh or Jaina where such wills are of the classes specified in clauses (a) and (b) of section 57; and
  (ii) in the case of wills made by any Parsi dying, after the commencement of the Indian Succession (Amendment) Act, 1962 (16 of 1962), where such wills are made within the local limits of the 3[ordinary-original civil jurisdiction] of the High Courts at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay, and where such wills are made outside those limits, in so far as they relate to immovable property situate within those limits.]
  3. Subs. by Act 3 of 1951, s. 3 and the Schedule, for "the States". 
  1. Subs. by Act 16 of 1962, s. 4, for sub-section (2).
  2. Ins. by Act 26 of 2002, s. 3 (w.e.f. 27-5-2002).
  3. Subs. by Act 52 of 1964, s. 3 and the Second Schedule, for "ordinary civil jurisdiction".
  State Amendments
  Karela.-
  213. Amendment of section.-
  In sub-section (2) of section 213 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 (Central Act 39 of 1925), after the word 'Muhammadans', the words 'or Indian Christians' shall be inserted. [Vide Kerala Act 1 of 1997, sec. 2].
  214. Proof of representative title a condition precedent to recovery through the Courts of debts from debtors of deceased persons.-
  (1) No Court shall-
  (a) pass a decree against a debtor of a deceased person for payment of his debt to a person claiming on succession to be entitled to the effects of the deceased person or to any part thereof, or
  (b) proceed, upon an application of a person claiming to be so entitled, to execute against such a debtor a decree or order for the payment of his debt, except on the production, by the person so claiming of-
  (i) a probate or letters of administration evidencing the grant to him of administration to the estate of the deceased, or
  (ii) a certificate granted under section 31 or section 32 of the Administrator General's Act, 1913 (3 of 1913), and having the debt mentioned therein, or
  (iii) a succession certificate granted under Part X and having the debt specified therein, or
  (iv) a certificate granted under the Succession Certificate Act, 18894 (7 of 1889), or
  (v) a certificate granted under Bombay Regulation No. VIII of 1827, and, if granted after the first day of May, 1889, having the debt specified therein.
  (2) The word "debt" in sub-section (1) includes any debt except rent, revenue or profits payable in respect of land used for agricultural purposes.
  4. Rep. partly by Act 39 of 1925, and finally by Act 1 of 1938.
  215. Effection certificate of subsequent probate or letters of administration.-
  (1) A grant of probate or letters of administration in respect of an estate shall be deemed to supersede any certificate previously granted under Part X or under the Succession Certificate Act, 18894 (7 of 1889) or Bombay Regulation No. VIII of 1827, in respect of any debts or securities included in the estate.
  (2) When at the time of the grant of the probate or letters any suit or other proceeding instituted by the holder of any such certificate regarding any such debt or security is pending, the person to whom the grant is made shall, on applying to the Court in which the suit or proceeding is pending, be entitled to take the place of the holder of the certificate in the suit or proceeding:
  Provided that, when any certificate is superseded under this section, all payments made to the holder of such certificate in ignorance of such supersession shall be held good against claims under the probate or letters of administration.
  216. Grantee of probate or administration alone to sue, etc., until same revoked.-
  After any grant of probate or letters of administration, no other than the person to whom the same may have been granted shall have power to sue or prosecute any suit, or otherwise act as representative of the deceased, throughout the State in which the same may have been granted, until such probate or letters of administration has or have been recalled or revoked.