A succession certificate, under the Indian Succession Act, is a document that gives authority to the person who obtains it, to represent the deceased for the purpose of collecting debts and securities due to him or payable in his name.

Usually, a succession certificate is the key in the absence of a will, a succession certificate will be the primary document through which the heirs can stake a claim to the assets of a deceased relative.

Issuance of succession certificate does not give right of succession to the claimed property of a deceased person, because it does not determine the right, title and interest of the deceased person to a particular property or entire property. However, successor(s) of intestate deceased person is/are entitled to inherit the deceased person s property.