Nomination is the right conferred upon the holder of a bank account to appoint one or more persons who will be entitled to receive monies upon the death of the account holder. In the event of death of an account or locker holder, the bank can release the account proceeds or contents to the nominee without insisting upon a succession certificate, letter of administration or court order.

Subsequent nomination

If the account holder has not made any nomination till date, or has cancelled an existing nomination, he can subsequently make a nomination by filling up Form DA 1. The form can be downloaded from the bank website. The account holder's details, deposit details and nominee information must be filled. The form must be signed by all account holders.

Deletion of nominee

An existing nominee can be deleted from the records subsequently by filling up Form DA2. This form also requires details of the account and the account holders with name and address of the nominee who is to be deleted. The form must be signed by all account holders.

Nomination in favour of minor

If nomination is made in favour of a minor, details of the guardian of the minor also need to be mentioned in the nomination form. The guardian should be an adult who will get the amounts in the account on behalf of the minor in case of death of the account holder till the nominee attains majority.

Multiple nominations

Only one nominee can be appointed in case of bank accounts. However, banks allow appointment of different nominees for different accounts in the same bank.

Separate nominations forms are required to be submitted in this case.

Points to note

The nominee holds the funds in trust for the benefit of the legal heirs of the deceased person.

Payment to the nominee acts as a valid discharge to the bank.

Signatures of the account holders need not be attested by witnesses. However, for nomination requests with thumb impression, two witnesses are required.