Claim on dead bachelor brother's assets including money

From your query, it can be deduced that the deceased person died intestate and he has bank deposits and post office certificates. It is not known whether he gave any nomination in favour of anybody in the family or any other person.  In case of the nomination is available, the monies relating to deposits with Bank and Post Office shall be paid to such nominee and the nominee receives the money in Trust and is bound by law to distribute the same to all eligible Legal Heirs including him/her, provided he/she too is eligible. 

Please be informed that Bank or Post Office shall not just like that pay the amounts to anybody who brings the Deposits and/or certificates or mentions an account number. They do have a system in place which is called "Claim Settlement" and through the set procedure, they call for the details of all Legal Heirs and only based on the documents submitted by such legal heir/s after satisfying themselves that there may not be any other claimants for the amounts.

Therefore, find out the details of the branch of Bank/Post Office in which the deceased person had deposits and give them a letter seeking their help in getting the Claim Settled.  They shall further guide in submitting the required forms including the Death Certificate of the person deceased. They may as per their procedure require you other documents which need to comply for the claim settled to the Legal Heirs as per the Personal Law applicable.

Well advise given by expert  Sri Sivaramprasad and act accordingly . As for second class relation the court declaration is must.

File for a succession certificate and legal heir certificate. Further send notice in concurrence with the court to the concerned financial institution/s for not allowing to access the money to anybody till disposal. Please find a amicable solution with your brother else the matter will go long and long and no one will get the amount.

It is not known the total value of the deposits and postal certificates. It is better to follow the rules of the Bank/Post Office and get the Claims settled instead of going to Court and attendant expenditure, delay, and prolonging litigation. First, you should know the Bank branch and Post Office concerned. Without that, it will not be possible to send any notice. Involve family elders or friends to counsel your brother to disclose the details and follow the procedure and his futility of keeping things to himself shall only delay the matter without himself getting benefitted in any way, as the Banks./Post Office shall not settle the claim with him alone approaching them.

In the given circumstances, presuming you are Hindu by religion, if your mother is not alive then the assets left behind by your unmarried brother shall devolve on his class II legal heirs upon his intestate death. 

Section 8 of the Act lays down the general rules of succession in the case of Hindu males who have died intestate and inter-alia states that the property of such a male Hindu shall devolve firstly, upon the heirs of the deceased, being class I heirs.

And secondly, if there are no class I heirs, then upon the class II heirs.

In your case, since your brother did not have any class I heirs who survived him at the time of his death and if your  father was also not alive at that time, then his brothers and sisters (assuming he doesn’t have step-brothers or step-sisters) will inherit his estate simultaneously and in equal shares.

For this he has to file a case before appropriate court seeking succession certificate because the revenue department is not authorised to furnish Class II legal heirship certificate.

Since one of your brothers is trying to usurp the property illegally, you may have to write to bank or post offices where ever your brother has made deposits  by sending a legal notice stating that so and so died on so and so date, however one of his brothers is trying to acquire the assets lying on the name of the deceased account holder illegally by deceiving  the other successors in interest  they may be instructed to not to disburse the claim amount until a succession certificate is produced by all the successors in interest, simultaneously you may have to file an application restraining the bank and post office from disbursing the assets o anyone till the disposal of the succession petition pending before the court. 

In all the probabilities, you cannot have a relief outwith approaching court of law until and unless the agitating brother comes in compromise terms with other legal heirs. 

So don't waste time by investigating ways to avoid court case  because by that time your brother would have drained out all the money after which it will become very difficult to retrieve your share of money from him by any means including legal  action through court  of law. .