Fixed Deposit Nomination Form

To, The Branch Manager [bank_name], [branch_name] Date: [nomination_date] Subject: Nomination in respect of fixed deposit no. [fd_number] Sir/Madam, 1. DEPOSITOR Name : [depositor_name] Address : [depositor_address] Deposit : [fd_number] 2. NOMINATION I hereby nominate the following person to receive the amount of the above deposit in the event of my death, under Section 45ZA of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 read with the Banking Companies (Nomination) Rules, 1985: Name of nominee : [nominee_name] Relationship : [nominee_relationship] Date of birth : [nominee_dob] Address : [nominee_address] 3. WHERE THE NOMINEE IS A MINOR Where the nominee is a minor on the date of my death, I appoint [guardian_name] to receive the amount on the nominee's behalf during minority. 4. DECLARATIONS 4.1 This nomination is made of my own free will and supersedes any earlier nomination in respect of the same deposit. 4.2 I may vary or cancel it at any time by written intimation to the Bank. 4.3 I request that the nomination be registered and an acknowledgment issued to me. Yours faithfully, [depositor_name] WITNESSES (required where the depositor signs by thumb impression) 1. Name: ______________________ Signature: ______________ 2. Name: ______________________ Signature: ______________ FOR BANK USE Nomination registered on ______________ Reference: ______________ ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── A NOMINATION DECIDES WHO RECEIVES — NOT WHO OWNS This is the point most people have backwards, and it causes real family disputes. Section 45ZA protects the BANK. It allows the bank to pay the nominee and obtain a valid discharge, so it does not have to wait for a succession certificate. That is its purpose. It does not decide who is ultimately entitled to the money. The nominee generally receives it as a TRUSTEE for the legal heirs, who take under your will or under the law of succession. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that a nomination does not override a will or the law of succession, and does not by itself confer beneficial ownership. So: - A NOMINATION IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR A WILL. If you want a particular person to OWN the deposit, say so in a will. - A nomination that CONTRADICTS your will invites exactly the dispute you were trying to avoid. Keep them consistent. - Review nominations after a marriage, a divorce, a death in the family, or a new will. An old nomination naming a person no longer intended is a common and avoidable problem. - Nominate for EVERY deposit and account, not just the largest. An account without a nomination is the one that forces the family into a succession certificate application. PRACTICAL: keep a record of which accounts carry which nomination, and tell someone where that record is. Unclaimed deposits in India run to very substantial sums largely because families did not know the accounts existed.