My father had been declared by Taluk Tahalsildar as the legal heir after my elder brother & his other heirs in a car accident. Most of the issues related to bank deposits, LIC insurance have got cleared with the help of this certificate.

But post office authorities are showing reluctancy to repay the amounts in various deposit schemes against this LEGAL HEIRSHIP CERTIFICATE & asking for SUCCESSION CERTIFICATE from civil court.

Does this certificate issued by Tahalsildar has no value in post office dept ? What exactly is the post office rule for repaying amounts incase of the account holder is dead?