Add or change nominee in demat and mutual fund - citizen guide 2026

If you hold a demat account or a mutual fund folio in India, naming a nominee is the single cheapest step that protects your family from years of paperwork after you are gone. You can add or change a nominee online in minutes, and SEBI now lets you name up to ten people.

Nomination is the facility that lets you name the person who can claim the securities or units in your demat account or mutual fund folio after your death. The nominee receives the assets and hands them to the legal heirs. It speeds up transmission but does not by itself decide final ownership.

Nomination for securities is governed by the Depositories Act 1996 and SEBI regulations, with the regulator being the Securities and Exchange Board of India. The current framework comes from SEBI circular SEBI/HO/OIAE/OIAE_IAD-3/P/ON/2025/01650 dated January 10, 2025, which revamped nomination across demat accounts and mutual fund folios. It allows an investor to name up to ten nominees per account or folio, each with a stated percentage share, and where no share is stated the assets are split equally.

A key relief came earlier through SEBI circular SEBI/HO/MIRSD/POD-1/P/CIR/2024/81 dated June 10, 2024. It did away with the freezing of demat accounts and mutual fund folios of existing investors who had not submitted their choice of nomination, and removed the freeze on corporate benefits and physical folio servicing. So an existing account is not frozen merely because nomination is pending. New investors, however, must still provide a choice of nomination, either naming a nominee or opting out, when they open an account or folio.

1. Decide whether you want to nominate someone or formally opt out. Both are valid choices under SEBI rules.
2. For a demat account, log in to your depository portal, CDSL at its BO nomination page or NSDL through its online nomination service, or use your broker or DP app.
3. Open the nomination or manage-account tab and enter each nominee name, relationship, date of birth and PAN or other identifier.
4. Assign a percentage share to each nominee so the total comes to one hundred percent. Leave it blank only if you want an equal split.
5. Add a guardian if any nominee is a minor.
6. Confirm using Aadhaar e-sign, a digital signature or two-factor authentication with the OTP sent to your registered mobile.
7. For a mutual fund folio, log in to your AMC website, the RTA portal such as CAMS or KFintech, or the MF Central platform, open the nomination section and repeat the same steps.
8. To change a nominee later, open the same tab, edit or delete the existing entry, add the new nominee and re-confirm with OTP or e-sign.
9. If you prefer paper, download the nomination form, fill it, sign it before two witnesses and submit it to your DP, broker or RTA.
10. Save the acknowledgement and check that the nominee shows correctly in your next account statement.

• Your PAN and the demat account BO ID or mutual fund folio number
• Registered mobile number for OTP and, for online e-sign, an Aadhaar linked to it
• Each nominee name, date of birth, relationship and address
• Each nominee PAN or another identifier such as Aadhaar where asked
• Guardian details if a nominee is a minor
• Two witnesses signatures only for the offline paper form

• Assuming a nominee becomes the owner. Under transmission rules the nominee holds the assets in trust for the legal heirs until succession is settled.
• Naming a non-individual such as a trust, HUF or company. Only individuals can be nominees.
• Letting the percentage shares add up to more or less than one hundred percent, which gets the form rejected.
• Forgetting to add a guardian for a minor nominee.
• Treating the old June 30, 2024 deadline as a live threat. SEBI removed the freeze for existing investors through the June 2024 circular.
• Not updating the nominee after marriage, divorce or a death in the family.

Under the SEBI January 10, 2025 circular you can name up to ten nominees per account or folio, with a percentage share for each. If you do not state shares, the assets are divided equally among them.

No. SEBI through its June 10, 2024 circular did away with the freezing of demat accounts and mutual fund folios of existing investors who have not submitted their choice of nomination. New investors must still make a choice when opening an account.

Yes. You can choose to opt out of nomination by submitting the prescribed declaration form. This is a valid choice, though naming a nominee is strongly advisable to ease transmission for your family.

No. The nominee receives the securities or units to hold for the rightful legal heirs. Final ownership is decided by your will or by succession law, not by nomination alone.

Yes. You can change or delete a nominee at any time and as often as you want, online through your portal or by submitting a fresh signed form to your DP or RTA. No fee applies.

No. SEBI has kept the choice of nomination for trading accounts voluntary. The mandatory nomination or opt-out choice applies to demat accounts and mutual fund folios.

No. Only individuals can be appointed as nominees. Entities such as a trust, company, HUF or association of persons cannot be named as a nominee.

You need your PAN, your BO ID or folio number, a registered mobile for the OTP, and each nominee name, date of birth, relationship and identifier. For minors you also add a guardian.

• SEBI circular on revise and revamp nomination facilities, January 10, 2025
• SEBI circular doing away with freezing for non-submission of nomination, June 10, 2024
• SEBI Investor portal, nomination facility
• CDSL Beneficial Owner online nomination login
• NSDL online nomination process guide

• The RTI Playbook
• Transmission of shares and mutual funds after death
• Claim unclaimed shares and dividends through IEPF-5
• Apply for a succession certificate
• How to register a will
• Reactivate a dormant bank account through UDGAM

Newer rules you may also want to read:

• the faster 23-day rights issue rules
• the UPI block mechanism for stock trading
• SEBI algo trading rules for retail investors

New 2026 update on RTI Wiki: SEBI insider trading: expanded UPSI rules from 2025