Lesson 25 of 50 for advisers · What happens to your ARN business · 5 min read · Reviewed 13 Nov 2026
The nominee, or the legal heir if there is none, receives trail on business done before death, as trustee for the heirs, until the AUM is nil. No new business is accepted under the ARN. To move the clients to their own ARN, the heir needs NISM V-A and an ARN, writes to the clients, and applies within 12 months of the death.
Fund houses offer individual distributors a nomination when they empanel them. After a death, the nominee, or the legal heir if there is none, receives trail on earlier business, as trustee for the heirs.
Trail is paid only if the ARN was valid on the date of death, and it continues until the assets under it reach nil. No new business or new SIP is accepted under that ARN.
To take the clients onto their own ARN, the heir passes NISM V-A, gets an ARN and empanels with each fund house. Clients are written to, and folios move after 15 days unless a client objects.
Since 27 Oct 2025 the heir has 12 months from the death, up from 6, to complete every step.
Key idea: A distributor can sell or merge the whole book only for a change of legal status, a merger or acquisition, or a sub-distributor moving its assets.
Try the short quiz on this page to check what stuck.
The transfer process sends letters and allows 15 days to object. AMFI’s Jan 2026 master circular also has a paragraph saying a heir needs the investor’s consent, so check with the fund house.
At the earlier distributor’s rate. For a sub-distributor moving its book, or an objecting client choosing their own distributor, the lower of the two rates.
No. An ARN is needed only to take the clients onto a new ARN and do new business.
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