Inheritance in Pakistan when the family is spread across the world.
For children and widows living abroad who need to transfer a parent’s land, house, plot or bank account in Pakistan — or who are being kept out of a share.
Short answer. When the heirs agree, a succession certificate or letter of administration is issued through NADRA’s Succession Facilitation Units — the application can be started at any NADRA centre regardless of where the property is, and heirs living abroad can verify biometrically through the Pak ID app. When the heirs disagree, or a share is being withheld, the matter goes to court under the Succession Act, 1925, and land must still be mutated into the heirs’ names in the revenue or society record.
Reviewed by Khalil Ahmad Bhullah, Founding Partner · Last reviewed 22 September 2026 · Pakistani law only
Agreed family, or disputed estate?
The first question decides the route, the cost and the timetable.
All heirs agree: NADRA succession
Uncontested succession certificates and letters of administration are issued through NADRA’s Succession Facilitation Units instead of the courts. Heirs authorise one applicant, verify biometrically, the application is published for objections, and the certificate issues if none are raised.
Someone objects or is left out: the court
Contested succession under the Succession Act, 1925, suits for declaration and partition, and criminal remedies where a woman’s share is withheld. NADRA declines applications where there is a dispute or a gap in the record, and they then come to court.
How the agreed route runs.
Records first
Death certificate registered with the Union Council, and a current Family Registration Certificate from NADRA showing every legal heir. Missing or wrong family records are the most common cause of rejection.
Authorisation and biometrics
Heirs authorise one applicant. Heirs abroad verify through the Pak ID app. We prepare the asset schedule so nothing is left out.
Objection period and certificate
The application is published for objections. If none are raised within the period, NADRA issues the succession certificate or letter of administration.
Transfer each asset
Land: inheritance mutation (virasat intiqal) at the Arazi Record Centre. Society plots: transfer on the society or development authority file. Bank and shares: the certificate is presented to each institution.
Shares, wills and gifts: the rules that decide who gets what.
Muslim estates follow fixed shares
Under the West Pakistan Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1962, a Muslim’s estate passes by Islamic shares to the heirs the law names. Daughters, widows and mothers have fixed shares that cannot be overridden by family agreement made under pressure.
A will reaches one-third, and not heirs
A Muslim’s will can pass up to one-third of the estate, and only to people who are not heirs, unless the other heirs consent after death. Non-Muslim estates follow their own personal law and the Succession Act, 1925.
Lifetime gifts are the real planning tool
A gift (hiba) with declaration, acceptance and delivery of possession, properly registered and mutated, takes property out of the estate. Parents abroad often want this for a child who has cared for them; it must be done carefully to survive a later challenge.
Withholding a woman’s share is a crime
Section 498-A of the Pakistan Penal Code makes it an offence to deprive a woman of inherited property by deceit or coercion. That changes the negotiation with brothers who assume the sisters abroad will not act.
Questions heirs abroad ask.
With the death certificate, the Family Registration Certificate (FRC) from NADRA, and a list of the assets: land, houses, society plots, bank accounts, shares, vehicles. If all heirs agree, the NADRA succession route is the fastest. If anyone objects, we go to court. Either way we map every asset first, because each one transfers through a different office.
Largely, yes. The application is started in Pakistan — usually by an heir or an attorney on the ground — and heirs abroad give biometric verification through NADRA’s Pak ID mobile app. Since August 2025 the application can be filed at a NADRA centre anywhere in Pakistan, not only in the province where the property is.
Depriving a woman of her inheritance is a criminal offence under section 498-A of the Pakistan Penal Code, and Punjab also has a women’s property rights law that allows a complaint to the Ombudsperson. Alongside that, a civil suit for declaration and partition establishes and separates the share. Heirs abroad can pursue all of this through an attorney.
For Muslims, a will (wasiyat) can pass no more than one-third of the estate, and not to someone who is already an heir, unless the other heirs consent after death. The rest passes by fixed Islamic shares. A registered gift (hiba) made during life, with delivery of possession, is the usual planning tool; it has to be done properly to survive challenge.
No. A nominee under a bank or savings scheme generally receives the money as a trustee for all legal heirs, not as the sole owner. The heirs still need a succession certificate to establish who is entitled.