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Property Mutation After Death in Kolkata: Updating KMC and Land Records for Legal Heirs
A name that still belongs to the departed owner on the KMC assessment register or the Banglarbhumi record blocks tax bills, loans and sales. We work out which register applies to your address and take each filing through to the certificate.
- The right register identified first: KMC assessment, municipal holding or BL&LRO record of rights
- Heirship affidavit, consents and A-42 papers prepared in the order each office expects
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The Short Answer: Where the Name Changes After a Death in Kolkata
Property mutation after death in Kolkata means replacing the owner's name in the register that your property depends on. Inside the KMC area, that is the assessment register, changed through Form A-42 at the Assessment-Collection unit office, backed by a death certificate and an heirship affidavit or a probated Will. Outside KMC, it is the record of rights at the BL&LRO, applied for through Banglarbhumi, or the holding register of the local municipality. Probate is not compulsory by statute, though some offices still ask. Mutation records who pays the tax; it does not create title.
- Inside KMC: Form A-42 at the Assessment-Collection unit office that covers your ward
- Outside KMC: Namjari at the BL&LRO, or the holding register of the municipality
- Core papers: Death certificate, heirship affidavit or probated Will, tax receipts, title deed
- Remember: A mutated name changes who is billed, not who owns the property
Six Common Kolkata Situations and the Record Each One Changes
Addresses that carry the Kolkata name sit under very different bodies. Find the row that resembles your property, then read the sections below for that route. If two rows apply, for instance a flat in KMC and farmland in a panchayat, each asset needs its own application.
| Situation | What changes | Office or authority | Typical time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flat or house inside KMC, owner died without a Will | KMC assessment The assessee name passes to the heirs through Form A-42, with an affidavit of heirship that names the premises and assessee numbers. | Assessor-Collector's unit office for the ward, Assessment-Collection Department, KMC | Usually a few weeks once the papers are complete |
| Property inside KMC, owner left a Will | KMC assessment Same application, backed by a certified copy of the Will. Ask the unit office in writing whether it still wants probate. | The same unit office; a probate court if a petition becomes necessary | Weeks for the mutation, several months if probate comes first |
| Flat under the Apartment Ownership Act or in a cooperative society | Assessment plus association record The assessment changes through A-42. The owners' association or the society updates its own register or share separately. | KMC unit office; the association or society; the Registrar of Cooperative Societies for society matters | Weeks, longer if dues or society approval are pending |
| Land or a house in a panchayat area, or an agricultural plot | Record of rights (namjari) The khatian and dag entries move from the deceased to the heirs, with each share shown. | BL&LRO of the block, applied for through Banglarbhumi; the Gram Panchayat for its own records | Often a few months, because notice and a hearing come first |
| Property in Salt Lake, Howrah, Dum Dum, Barasat or New Town | Municipal holding or authority record The local body or authority replaces the owner's name in its assessment or lease records. | Bidhannagar or Howrah Municipal Corporation, the relevant municipality, or the New Town authority | Depends on the office; ask for its own checklist first |
| Thika, refugee colony, waqf or leasehold premises | KMC assessment after clearance An extra clearance has to be in hand before the assessment office will proceed with the heirs' application. | Controller of Thika Tenancy, Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation Department, Wakf Board or lessor, then KMC | Several months in many files |
Times describe what families commonly meet, not promises. Offices work through queues, objections and missing papers at different speeds. A name that is spelt differently on the death certificate, the deed and the tax bill is a frequent cause of delay, so all three are compared before anything is filed.
Not sure which row is yours? Most families are not. One call with an advocate settles it.
Book an assessmentMapping the Records: Which Register Carries the Owner's Name in Kolkata
One property can appear in several registers, and families often update only the one they happen to know. Before any form is signed, it helps to see them side by side.
The assessment register
Kolkata Municipal Corporation lists every assessed premises under a ward number, a premises number and an assessee number. The assessee is whoever receives the tax bill. Mutation after a death replaces the departed owner with the heirs in this register.
The land record
The state's Land and Land Reforms Department keeps the record of rights, organised by district, block, mouza, khatian and dag (plot) number. Namjari is the process of changing a name in it. The record is built around parcels of land, so it matters most for plots, farmland and houses beyond municipal areas.
The municipal holding record
Outside Kolkata proper, each municipality or municipal corporation keeps its own holding or assessment register and issues its own tax receipts.
The owners' own register
An apartment owners' association or a cooperative housing society keeps a separate list of flat owners or members.
Inside the KMC limits, most families need the assessment register first. The land record comes into play only in particular cases, for example where KMC wants a record of rights or a block-level mutation certificate before it assesses a parcel that was never assessed. The reverse holds in a village: the BL&LRO record is the main one, and a municipal register may not exist at all.
The corporation currently has 144 wards grouped into boroughs, and a legislative change will raise that number once new boundaries are notified. Read the ward number from the latest tax bill, not from memory, because the unit office that handles a file is tied to it.
A simple way to place an address is to ask three questions. Which body sends the tax bill? Does the title deed describe the property by premises number, or by mouza and dag number? Is the building a flat in a registered complex? The answers show whether the starting point is a KMC counter, a block land office or a municipality, and they take only a few minutes to establish. Skipping this step is how originals end up at the wrong counter.
Inside KMC: How an A-42 Mutation Moves After a Death
For a flat or house in the city, mutation by succession is handled by the Assessment-Collection Department of Kolkata Municipal Corporation. The application is Form A-42. The department's citizens' charter lists succession among the simpler categories and gives it a shorter working time limit than transfers by deed or cases that need outside clearance. Service details are revised from time to time, so check the current charter on the KMC website.
Read more
What the unit office typically asks from heirs:
The charter was written before Section 213 of the Indian Succession Act was removed in December 2025, and Kolkata was among the places where that section had applied to the Wills of Hindus and some other communities. Probate is no longer compulsory by statute, but the form still speaks of a probated Will. Ask the unit office, in writing, whether it will accept the Will on other proof, and be ready to file a petition if it will not.
The application can also be made online. KMC's e-mutation help note describes the flow. The applicant signs in through the external user login, completes the digitised A-42, uploads an identity document such as Aadhaar, voter card or PAN, and receives a temporary case number and an SMS. After the processing payment, the case reaches the Assessor-Collector, who fixes a date for the heirs to bring the original papers to the unit office for the ward. The status moves through Registered and Awaiting Approval to Approved. Once the owner's name is changed in the database, the heir applies for a mutation certificate, which the staff then issue.
The same note says the supporting legal papers are produced at the unit office and are not uploaded. KMC runs a handful of unit offices, among them the central municipal office, Tollygunge (Tolly Tax), Jadavpur, Garden Reach and Behala, so confirm which one covers your ward before anyone travels. A relative in Kolkata can often attend with a proper authorisation when the heirs live elsewhere.
A few numbered wards need one more paper. The charter asks for an affidavit declaring that the premises is not a KMC property, filed with the application. If your ward is on that list, the unit office will say so at the counter.
- A no-outstanding certificate from the department, confirming that no tax is pending against the premises. Arrears in the departed owner's name have to be cleared first.
- The death certificate of the recorded owner, in original. According to the charter, an attested photocopy is accepted where the death took place outside KMC limits. If another heir has also died, that certificate is needed as well.
- For a death without a Will: an affidavit of heirship, sworn before a notary public or a magistrate, that mentions the municipal premises number and the assessee number.
- For a death with a Will: a certified or attested copy of the probated Will, with the death certificate.
Outside KMC: Namjari at the BL&LRO and Mutation in the Municipalities Around Kolkata
Beyond the corporation boundary, a property usually sits under one of two systems, and sometimes both.
Land in panchayat and rural areas
The Block Land and Land Reforms Officer (BL&LRO) keeps the record of rights for the block and decides mutation under the West Bengal Land Reforms Act, 1955. The state's Banglarbhumi portal lets an applicant register with a mobile number, open the mutation application under citizen services, enter the district, block and mouza, upload scanned papers and pay the application amount online. A case number is generated so the status can be followed. Filing offline at the BL&LRO office is also possible.
For an inheritance, the office generally expects proof of heirship and the involvement of every heir. A Warish application is available through Banglarbhumi, and through the Tathya Sathi portal for panchayat areas, so the heirship paper itself can sometimes be sought online. Expect a notice and a hearing, because the Revenue Officer has to give any other claimant a chance to speak before the khatian changes. An objection from a co-heir or a neighbour can pause the case until it is resolved.
Two practical cautions apply. First, once the order is passed, check both the online record and the physical register at the block office, since an entry on screen does not always mirror the registers kept at the office. Second, read the khatian for the deceased's share. Land held jointly with brothers or cousins shows fractions, and the heirs inherit only the departed owner's fraction.
Municipalities around Kolkata
Each keeps its own register and follows its own process, and most hand over a checklist at the counter.
- Salt Lake: Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation handles the assessment, while a leasehold plot may also involve the state's Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Department when the lessee's name changes.
- Howrah: Howrah Municipal Corporation, in a different district from Kolkata with its own collectorate.
- The northern and eastern belt: municipalities such as Dum Dum, South Dum Dum, North Dum Dum, Baranagar, Kamarhati and Barasat, and the Rajarhat-Gopalpur municipality in the direction of New Town.
- The southern fringe: municipalities such as Rajpur Sonarpur and Maheshtala.
- New Town: plots and flats administered by the New Town Kolkata Development Authority, where lease terms often shape the process.
The rules for municipalities other than the corporations come largely from the West Bengal Municipal Act, 1993, and the newer corporations work under their own statutes, so forms and sequences are not identical. The safe habit is to ask the municipality for its mutation checklist and to confirm whether it accepts a Magistrate's heirship affidavit, a certificate from the ward councillor or only a court document.
When the Premises Is Thika, Colony, Waqf, Leasehold or Khatal: Extra Clearances
A simple succession case at KMC is quick on paper. A few kinds of property are not simple, and the citizens' charter itself allows them far longer, measured in months.
Thika or bustee tenancy
The structure stands on land held by a landlord, and the tenant's rights are generally treated as heritable under the state's thika tenancy law. KMC asks for clearance from the Controller of Thika Tenancy before it changes the assessee. Premises on the controller's list of khatal premises cannot be mutated until clearance is obtained.
Refugee colony land
Plots in colonies set up after Partition are often held on a patta from the Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation Department. KMC asks for that patta alongside the usual succession papers, so heirs should trace it early. An old patta may sit with the colony committee, in a relative's files or at the department.
Waqf property
A premises recorded as waqf needs clearance from the Wakf Board in addition to the succession papers.
Leasehold plots
A lease from the state, a development authority or a trust has terms about transfer, and the lessor may need to recognise the heirs. In Salt Lake and New Town, read the lease deed for its transfer clause and ask the lessor for its format.
Improvement Trust or KMDA land
Where an area was developed by the Kolkata Improvement Trust or the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority, an unassessed parcel may need their clearance before it is assessed at all.
These are the files where heirs most often lose months, because the extra paper lives in a department that has nothing to do with KMC. A useful first step is to ask the unit office, in writing, whether the premises falls into any special category. The reply shapes the checklist.
It is also worth checking whether the deceased was a tenant rather than an owner. A tenant's heirs may inherit the tenancy, but a tenancy does not make them owners, and the landlord's own assessment record will not change. In such files the questions are the rent receipts and the landlord's recognition, and an assessment mutation may not be available at all. An advocate should read the tenancy papers before a family spends time on an application that cannot succeed.
Mutation Is Not Title: What the New Name Does and Does Not Do
A mutated name is an entry in a tax or revenue register. It tells the office whom to bill and whom to notify. It does not decide who owns the property. Courts have said repeatedly that entries in such records neither create nor end title, and ownership after a death flows from the law of succession or from the Will.
Read more
The consequence for a Kolkata family is practical. A mutation order does not settle a dispute between siblings, it does not cure a gap in the chain of deeds, and it does not replace the registration of a release deed, a family settlement or a partition. Equally, the absence of mutation does not stop heirs from owning the property, though banks and buyers' advocates usually insist on it.
Who is entered still matters. Three patterns are common:
All heirs, jointly
Where the family is content to hold together, the assessment can carry every heir's name. This is the simplest route and raises the fewest objections.
One heir, with release deeds
If the others wish to step aside, each signs a registered release deed in favour of the heir who will keep the flat, and mutation follows in that heir's name. West Bengal stamp law decides how such a deed is treated, so check the state portal instead of relying on a relative's memory.
One heir, on consent papers only
A written no-objection from the others may satisfy a counter, yet it is not a transfer. If the property is sold later, a buyer's advocate may ask for the registered deed anyway.
The shares depend on personal law. For a Hindu who died without a Will after 1956, the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 names the heirs and their shares in West Bengal as elsewhere, although the Dayabhaga tradition can matter for older undivided family property. Muslim and Christian families follow their own rules. Ask an advocate to confirm the shares before an heirship affidavit is sworn, since a wrongly stated list is awkward to correct.
Finally, keep the other records moving. After the assessment changes, the CESC electricity connection, the KMC water connection, the owners' association and any bank lien each have their own name-change process. Treat mutation as the first domino. Heirs living abroad are welcome too: they can take part through a registered power of attorney, and the NRI legal heir certificate page for Kolkata explains the overseas signing steps.
A Realistic Timeline for a Kolkata Mutation, in Soft Ranges
No office can guarantee a date, and any adviser who does is guessing. The pattern below describes how long each stage tends to take when the family is organised.
Death certificate
Registration is due within 21 days of the death, and certified copies follow soon after. A late registration needs extra steps and adds weeks.
Heirship paper
An affidavit before a notary or Magistrate can be ready in a matter of days once every heir's details agree across documents. A court petition for a succession certificate or probate runs into several months.
Clearing arrears
Quick when the tax has been paid regularly. Where years of bills are outstanding, allow a few weeks to reconcile and pay.
KMC mutation
A simple succession case usually takes a few weeks from the day the original papers are produced at the unit office. Thika, colony and waqf premises run to several months.
BL&LRO namjari
Several months for a clean file, longer where there is an objection or a gap in the chain of deeds.
Follow-on updates
The electricity, water and association records tend to take a few weeks each, and they can run side by side.
Four things slow a file most: unpaid arrears, a name that differs between papers, an heir who cannot sign promptly, and a Will that nobody has taken through probate when the office wants it. Four things speed it up: a complete set of papers on the first visit, every heir's consent in writing, original documents ready on the date the office fixes, and a representative who can attend in person.
For a straightforward city flat, plan on the whole sequence, from the death certificate to the mutation certificate, taking a few months. Land records and special tenures can stretch that. Our guide to the timeline for property mutation after death in India compares the pattern across states.
Mistakes That Send Kolkata Mutation Files Back to the Start
Most returned files fail for ordinary reasons. These are the ones seen most often.
Filing in the wrong register
Applying at a block land office for a flat inside KMC, or at KMC for a village plot, wastes weeks and sometimes the originals.
Ignoring arrears
The no-outstanding certificate cannot be issued while dues remain, and the application cannot move without it. Pay or reconcile the tax first.
An affidavit without the numbers
The KMC charter asks the heirship affidavit to mention the premises number and the assessee number. A generic affidavit invites a return.
Name variants
Bengali surnames appear as Banerjee or Bandyopadhyay, Mukherjee or Mukhopadhyay, Chatterjee or Chattopadhyay. If the deed, the tax bill and the death certificate disagree, add a short sworn statement that they refer to one person.
Leaving out an heir
A married daughter, the children of a predeceased son, or a second family can all be heirs. An incomplete list invites an objection later and can unsettle the whole mutation.
Expecting the Collectorate to issue the heirship paper
Within KMC the Collector of Kolkata issues a legal heir certificate only in cases directed by government bodies, so private families usually rely on a sworn affidavit instead.
Assuming the online form is the whole job
The e-mutation route still requires the original papers to be shown at the unit office on the date fixed.
Stopping after the assessment changes
The association, the electricity supplier, the water connection and the bank each need their own update, and unpaid maintenance dues can hold up the association.
Losing receipts
Keep every tax receipt, acknowledgement and case number. Later purchasers and lenders ask for them, and so do the offices when a file is reopened.
None of these is hard to avoid. A short review of the papers against the office's own list, before the first visit, catches most of them.
Related guides
These pages cover neighbouring questions in more depth.
Eight Moves From the Death Certificate to the Mutation Certificate
The order below suits a typical city flat, and it adjusts for land records, municipalities and special tenures.
Place the address in the right register
Read the latest tax bill for the ward, premises and assessee numbers, and read the deed to see whether it speaks of a premises or of a mouza and dag. That tells the family whether the file belongs at a KMC unit office, a BL&LRO or a municipality.
Gather the death certificate and identity papers
Obtain certified copies of the death certificate and collect Aadhaar, PAN or voter cards of every heir. Compare each name with the deed and the tax bill, and note every spelling variant now, while a correction is still simple.
Clear arrears and request the no-outstanding certificate
Check the assessee record for pending tax in the departed owner's name, settle or reconcile it, and ask the Assessment-Collection counter for the certificate. For a land record, collect the latest khajna receipt and a current khatian extract instead.
Fix the heirs and their shares
List every heir under the applicable personal law, including a married daughter or the children of a predeceased son. Decide whether the assessment will carry all names, or one name backed by registered release deeds, before any affidavit is sworn.
Prepare the affidavit, consents or Will papers
Draft the heirship affidavit with the premises and assessee numbers, or arrange the certified copy of the Will. Collect each heir's written consent and sign before a notary or Magistrate. Keep a clean set of copies for the file.
File the application
Submit Form A-42 at the unit office or through the KMC e-mutation login, file namjari at the BL&LRO through Banglarbhumi, or lodge the municipality's own form. Note the case number and diarise the date on which the originals must be shown.
Attend the date and answer queries
Carry the originals on the date fixed. Officers may query a name, a share or a missing receipt, and may issue a notice to other claimants in land cases. Replies are given in writing, and each answer is kept with the file.
Collect the certificate and update the downstream records
Collect the mutation certificate or the updated record, then take it to the owners' association, CESC, the water connection and the bank. Save a digital copy and the first tax receipt in the new names for any future sale or loan.
Ready to start? One call confirms your next steps.
Book an assessmentPapers to Gather Before Anyone Visits an Office
Offices vary in what they insist on, and charters are revised, so treat these lists as an opening set. Photocopies are enough for a first conversation, and originals are produced only on the date an office fixes. We ask each office for its current checklist in writing before a family signs.
From the family
- Original death certificate of the owner, and of any other heir who has died
- Aadhaar, PAN or voter card of every living heir, with a recent photograph
- Proof of relationship such as a marriage certificate, birth certificates or school records naming the parents
- The title deed and earlier deeds in the chain, or the lease deed for a leasehold plot
- The Will, if there is one, with details of witnesses and any probate petition already filed
- Written consent or no-objection from every heir who is not the applicant
- The latest tax receipts and the premises and assessee numbers copied from the bill
From KMC, land and municipal offices
- No-outstanding certificate from the KMC Assessment-Collection Department, with Form A-42 filled in
- Affidavit of heirship sworn before a notary or Magistrate, naming the premises and assessee numbers
- For land: a current khatian or porcha extract, the khajna receipt and the Banglarbhumi application number
- Association or society letter confirming that maintenance dues are clear, for a flat
- Clearance letters where they apply: Controller of Thika Tenancy, refugee colony patta, Wakf Board or lessor
- Municipal holding extract and the latest receipt, for a property in Howrah, Salt Lake, Dum Dum or New Town
Why Kolkata Families Ask PropResolve to Run the Mutation
- Address first, form second. Each file starts by placing the property in the right register, so originals reach the right counter the first time.
- Heirs and shares checked early. The list of heirs and the proposed names are settled before the affidavit is sworn, which avoids objections that surface months later.
- One thread to follow. A single contact keeps track of the unit office, the block office or the municipality, and tells the family plainly what is pending.
Reviewed by the Propresolve legal team. Legal work is carried out by independent advocates enrolled with the Bar Council. Last updated 4 October 2026.
Start With the Address, Not the Form
Tell us the ward or locality, who the heirs are and whether a Will exists. We reply with the register that applies and the papers to gather first.
Propresolve is a legal services concierge. Legal work is carried out by independent advocates enrolled with the Bar Council. This page is general information, not legal advice.
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