How to Add a Nominee to Your Bank Demat and Insurance Accounts
Step-by-step guide to adding a nominee to bank, Demat, and insurance accounts. Takes under 10 minutes and helps your family avoid legal delays later.
Most people set up their savings account, open a Demat account on Zerodha, buy a term plan — and then never think about nominee details again. That’s a mistake that doesn’t show up until it’s too late, and when it does, it falls on your family to fix it.
Adding a nominee takes about ten minutes. Not doing it can take your family months of legal paperwork, notarised affidavits, and succession certificates just to access money that was always theirs. Here’s exactly how to do it, account by account.
Why This Actually Matters
A nominee is not the same as a legal heir. A nominee is the person who receives your assets first — think of them as a temporary custodian. They’re supposed to then distribute the assets as per your will or succession laws. But in practice, having a nominee makes the whole process dramatically faster and avoids your money getting frozen.
If Rahul, a 32-year-old software engineer in Pune earning ₹1.1 lakh a month, dies without a nominee on his HDFC savings account holding ₹4.8 lakh, his wife will need to produce a succession certificate from a civil court. That process easily takes 6–12 months and costs ₹10,000–₹30,000 in legal fees. With a nominee? The bank transfers the money in a few weeks.
Adding a Nominee to Your Bank Account
For most private banks like HDFC, ICICI, and Axis, you can do this entirely online through net banking.
Log into your net banking portal. Go to “Service Requests” or “Account Services” — the exact label varies, but it’s usually in the menu. Look for “Add / Update Nominee”. You’ll need the nominee’s full name, date of birth, relationship to you, and their address. That’s it.
If you’re an SBI customer, this can be done through the YONO app. Under “My Account > Nominee Registration”, you can add or update a nominee without stepping into a branch.
You can add up to one nominee per bank account under current RBI guidelines. If you want to split assets between multiple people, that’s handled through a will — not the nominee field.
Adding a Nominee to Your Demat Account
If you invest in stocks or mutual funds through a Demat account on Zerodha or Groww, adding a nominee is now mandatory. SEBI made nominee registration compulsory for all Demat accounts — if you skipped it, your account may already be frozen for trading.
On Zerodha, log into Console (console.zerodha.com), go to Account > Profile, and scroll to the Nominee section. You can add up to three nominees and even split the percentage. So if you have ₹3 lakh in stocks, you could assign 60% to your spouse and 40% to your mother.
On Groww, go to Profile > Nominee Details. The process is identical — name, relationship, percentage split.
If you’ve been ignoring the pop-ups asking you to add a nominee, do it today. It takes under five minutes and requires no physical documents.
Adding a Nominee to Your Life Insurance Policy
This is arguably the most important one. If you have a term plan — say a ₹1 crore cover from HDFC Life or LIC — your nominee is the person who receives that ₹1 crore if you die during the policy term.
When you first buy a policy, you’re asked to name a nominee then and there. But if you got married after buying the policy, had a child, or the relationship changed, you need to update it.
For LIC policies, you can update your nominee by submitting Form 3510 at your nearest LIC branch, along with a self-attested copy of your ID. For HDFC Life, Max Life, and most private insurers, it’s done online through your account portal under “Policy Services > Change Nominee”.
Don’t leave this on autopilot. A 28-year-old who bought a policy before marriage and forgot to update it means the payout goes to a parent instead of a spouse — which can create exactly the kind of family tension no one needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I add a minor as a nominee?
Yes, you can. But you’ll also need to appoint an appointee — an adult who manages the money until the minor turns 18. Fill in the appointee’s details alongside the nominee’s at the time of registration.
What happens if I don’t add a nominee to my Demat account?
SEBI has directed depositories like CDSL and NSDL to freeze accounts where nominee details haven’t been provided. Your holdings remain safe, but you won’t be able to trade until the nomination is completed.
Can I have different nominees for different accounts?
Absolutely. Your SBI savings account, Zerodha Demat, and LIC policy can each have a completely different nominee. There’s no rule linking them.
Is the nominee guaranteed to get the money, or can someone contest it?
The nominee gets the assets first, but legal heirs can still contest through court if there’s a dispute and no will. A nominee declaration is not a substitute for a will — it just speeds up the initial transfer process significantly.
How do I update a nominee if my circumstances change?
For bank accounts and Demat accounts, log into your net banking or trading portal and update it directly. For insurance, either do it online through the insurer’s portal or submit the relevant change form at a branch. There’s no fee for updating nominee details.