Dear Hekarthi,
In case of death of the employee, gratuity payable to him shall be paid to his nominee(s) or if no nominee has been made then in that case gratuity is to be paid to his legal heir(s). Requirement of nomination is there in case of death of employee on completion of one year continuous service or more. If no nomination is made then the amount of gratuity is required to be paid to his legal heir(s) & to obtain this legal heir certificate is a difficult work. Employee can not be compelled to give declaration. HR department, in general take this nomination also at the time of completing other nominations at the time of joining of new employee.
R N KHOLA