My father died on 2jul2010.What is the time limit to claim the money in his savings bank accounts?

If you have a Citizens Advice Bureau, you should be able to get advice there for free. Or consult a lawyer, but there will probably be a fee. I don't know anything about Indian inheritance law. If your father left a will, those bank accounts belong to whoever he willed them to. If he left no will, depending on Indian law, everything may belong to your mother, or perhaps partly to her and partly to his children, in which case your married siblings would also be due their share. Your point (9) above suggests that your mother is the sole beneficiary. Where I live (not India) there is no fixed time limit in which to claim estates, and probate sometimes takes a couple of years to be finalised. However, our government grabs bank accounts if they have been dormant for 15 years. If there is something similar in India, it may be for a shorter period. I know you say you "need to postpone this bank work", but honestly, the sooner you get to grips with it, the better. The money could always be deposited in a new account where it will earn some interest, until it is needed. First of all, get good, local advice.

If your father had been a pensioner, your mother would get family pension.Have you approached the pension paying bank/office and applied for family pension for your mother by submitting your father"s death certificate and other relevant applications with them. For this there is no time left. do it immediately. As for the amounts lying in the bank a/cs.you have to submit death claim, along with death certificate, The concerned banks can guide you in this matter.Religion of the deceased matters, in settling the claim.All the legal heirs are entitled to get a share in the money, unless he has left a will or registered a nomination with the banks favouring a particular person. Death claim is a simple procedure which does not take much time. You need not postpone this , how ever busy you may be, as it is not a time consuming process. Of course there is no time limit for submitting a death claim. But earlier the better.

If your father had been a pensioner, your mother would get family pension.Have you approached the pension paying bank/office and applied for family pension for your mother by submitting your father"s death certificate and other relevant applications with them. For this there is no time left. do it immediately. As for the amounts lying in the bank a/cs.you have to submit death claim, along with death certificate, The concerned banks can guide you in this matter.Religion of the deceased matters, in settling the claim.All the legal heirs are entitled to get a share in the money, unless he has left a will or registered a nomination with the banks favouring a particular person. Death claim is a simple procedure which does not take much time. You need not postpone this , how ever busy you may be, as it is not a time consuming process. Of course there is no time limit for submitting a death claim. But earlier the better.