Your share does not depend on the land record being updated. Under the law applied in Pakistan, inheritance passes at the moment of death — so a plot still standing in your late father's name, decades on, is very often still partly yours. The work is proving it and getting it recorded.
Inheritance matters reach us in a familiar shape. A parent died some years ago. Nothing was formally divided. One brother stayed in Pakistan and has been farming or letting the land ever since; the others went abroad and did not press the point. Now a sale is proposed, or the brother in Pakistan has had the record put in his own name, and suddenly the question of shares is urgent.
The reassuring part is that the starting position is usually strong. Inheritance under the law applied in Pakistan devolves immediately on death, in fixed shares. An heir does not lose their share merely because the revenue record was never corrected, or because somebody else has had the use of the property for years. Possession by one co-heir is not, on its own, ownership of the whole.
The work is procedural. The estate has to be established, the heirs identified, and the entitlement recorded — through a succession certificate or letters of administration for money and movable assets, and through an inheritance mutation for land. Where the co-heirs cooperate, this can be relatively straightforward. Where they do not, it becomes a partition suit.
For bank accounts, shares, provident funds and other movable assets and debts. Since the Letters of Administration and Succession Certificates Act 2021, uncontested cases can be dealt with through NADRA rather than the courts, which is considerably faster where every heir agrees.
Where administration of the estate needs to be formally granted, particularly for immovable property or where a will is involved.
Having the devolution recorded in the revenue record so the land stands in the heirs' names — the step that is so often simply never taken.
Where co-heirs will not divide voluntarily, the court can partition the property or order a sale and division of proceeds.
Assets that were not disclosed, transfers made shortly before death, gifts said to have been given, or a will whose validity is doubted.
Where the deceased held assets in Pakistan and abroad, we work alongside your solicitor or probate practitioner so the Pakistani element fits the wider estate.
Do not worry if you are missing some of these — bring what you have. Part of our job is obtaining the rest.
Usually not. Inheritance devolves at death, so the shares of the legal heirs came into existence then, and the failure to update the record does not extinguish them. Long delay can give rise to arguments from whoever has been in possession, and those have to be met — but an old, undivided estate is one of the most common matters we deal with, and the starting position is generally strong.
Not always. Under the Letters of Administration and Succession Certificates Act 2021, NADRA can issue succession certificates and letters of administration where the case is uncontested and the heirs are agreed, which is markedly faster than litigation. Where any heir disputes the position, or the estate is contested, it goes to the court.
We obtain the mutation record to establish how the transfer was effected. A mutation that ignores the other heirs' shares can be challenged, and the claim is typically for cancellation of that entry together with partition and possession of your share.
Female heirs inherit fixed shares by law. A relinquishment has to be genuine, informed and properly evidenced — family arrangements that simply leave sisters out do not remove their entitlement, and we act for heirs seeking to recover shares in that situation.
Yes. Succession work, mutation and partition proceedings can all be conducted under an attested power of attorney, with reporting to you in writing.
Tell us the situation and we will tell you honestly where you stand — whether or not you go on to instruct us. Everything you share is confidential.