Abbey National Shares void ?...

Kriminal

Hi all,

On the 30th December, Dad passed away with termnal cancer, so we had to go through all his paperwork to sort any finances out.

We came across his old Abbey National certifcate (which Mum also has one off her own).

So, what we were looking to do was cash them in, as every penny counts at this moment in time.

Mum told me last night that she had contacted Santander, who said that Mum&Dad should've received a letter of some sorts, telling them about there shares (many years ago).

Now, as Mum hasn't been able to FIND this letter, they are saying that the shares are void! As these are worth around £3k it seems a lot of money to us to just let go off.

Would anybody be able to help me, help my Mum, with any suggestions about what can be done next?....and are these shares REALLY void?

Many Thanks in advance.

gozomark

http://www.aboutsantander.co.uk/shareholders.aspx

"The acquisition of Abbey National plc was effected by means of a scheme of arrangement under section 425 Companies Act 1985 on 12 November 2004. The ordinary shares in Abbey were cancelled and holders of the shares who were on the shareholders' register at 4.30pm on 12 November 2004 received one Banco Santander, S.A. share for each Company share"

thenudeone

so - even if there is no certificate, your Dad's estate may still be the owner of some Santander shares. Contact the company secretary's department or the registrar and find out.

Kriminal

Thank you to both of you for your responses, but please bear with me as I'm not the brightest of sparks with all this stuff.

thenudeone : who would the company secretary, or registrar be?....(I apologize if it appears that I'm being lazy; I swear I just don't understand any of these things )

AndyinLondon_2

The registrars are Equiniti

http://www.equiniti.com/Pages/Default.aspx

Assuming your dad never sold his shares, he should be listed on the register. They will need sight of the death certificate and possibly grant of probate before they do anything, but you can give them a call on 0121 415 7047 to discuss what you need to do.

Santander shares have taken a bit of a hammering over the last few months though so they may not be worth as much as you are hoping.

barak

Kriminal wrote: »

...Mum told me last night that she had contacted Santander, who said that Mum&Dad should've received a letter of some sorts, telling them about there shares (many years ago).

Now, as Mum hasn't been able to FIND this letter, they are saying that the shares are void! As these are worth around £3k it seems a lot of money to us to just let go off.

Would anybody be able to help me, help my Mum, with any suggestions about what can be done next?....and are these shares REALLY void?

Many Thanks in advance.

If your parents stayed at the same address since the Abbey National days they would have received mailings from Santander several times a year while they still held shares. If they changed address without telling the registrars, they wouldn't. There is information on the Santander shareholders site -

http://www.santandershareholder.co.uk/shareholder-services/faq

such as -

Your shares explained

What is an entitlement statement/should I have a share certificate?

Santander does not issue share certificates, like the one you may have held with your Abbey or Alliance & Leicester shares. Instead, your share entitlement is recorded in electronic format in CREST (the UK electronic share clearance and settlement system) as CREST Depository Interests (CDIs). Each CDI you hold represents one Santander share and the Statement of Entitlement you receive once a year shows your total holdings. Statements are issued annually in December, however if you require one before this time, you can contact the Santander shareholder helpline on 0871 384 2000 to request a copy. Please note that there may be an administration charge for this service.

[A possible alternative to the 0871 number is 0121 415 7188]

Hope this is some help.

Kriminal

Thanks again for the quick responses; you cannot believe how much it's appreciated at these difficult times we're having right now. :beer:

Andy, it does sound familiar; death certificate and probate; as it seems to be coming up with alot of the savings accounts (and other stuff) that Dad had left behind.

I'll get onto the Equiniti site when I'm back on the computer at home, or see if Mum would rather call them on the number you have supplied, or the number that barak has supplied.

Whichever way, what I've been told has been at least reassuring to my Mum.

PS. I'm not one for cop-outs, but it was my Sister who mentioned the £3k figure!