Transferring shares

Jimip_2

My father recently past away and has a small amount of shares in three companies. We would like to transfer these over to my mothers name until she decides what to do with them.

Have spoken to one company today who looks after shares for two of the companies and they can do this, no problem, but will charge £114 for the service. They stated that if the estate was sent to Probate then there would be no charge.

My questions are please:
1. Does the charge seem right and fair?
2. If we transferred them and then my mum decided to sell them would she get charged again?(appreciate there would be a selling fee)
3. We only have one of the three share certificates so how would we go about getting replacements?
4. What is the easiest way to check what value these shares have?

Thanks in advance.

Caladan

Sorry, I can only guess on 1-3 but 4 is easy enough if you know the number/type of share.

For example, lets assume there are 100 BT ordinary (ord) 5p shares, you can find the price here:

http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/prices-and-markets/stocks/summary/company-summary/GB0030913577GBGBXSET0.html

Just multiply that price by the number of shares held and you have a value.

For example in this case (as at posting) price is about 470p per share, so your 100 shares would be £470

Please note the value will change constantly. Should you require probate, you may need a 'date of death' valuation which would mean finding out the historic share price.

For question 1: No comment. I can't see how re-registering would cost that much.
2: If they are already re-registered in your mothers name, and she sold them, all she would pay is the stockbrokers fee (selling fee).
3: You may not need them, and it would depend on the share registrar.

Again - 1-3 is best guesses on my part (although I'm 99% sure on 2).

Some stockbrokers take a percentage, some charge a flat rate. Depending on the value you need to be careful which you pay.

Important edit: The £114 charge may relate to the fact an indemnity (which is a legal document) needs to be created and signed confirming the shares belong to your mother. If there is no probate, then there is no legal guarantee this is the case, hence the charge for the legal work.

If probate is granted, then there is no risk to the registrar.

Also - Whoever signs the indemnity must be sure it will not be challenged, otherwise they could find themselves liable for the value of the shares if the estate is challenged in court.

xylophone

Did your father die intestate?

jimip

Thanks for your responses Caladan and xylophone.

Now you have mentioned the point regarding the indemnity that bears out what I was told on the phone so I suppose that sounds reasonable.

Dad past away with a will in place so not needing to go to Probate.
He sorted most things but overlooked these.

xylophone

Dad past away with a will in place so not needing to go to Probate.
He sorted most things but overlooked these.

Having left a will does not necessarily mean that probate was not required!

https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/for-the-public/common-legal-issues/probate/

Caladan

Google define: Probate
probate
ˈprəʊbeɪt/Submit
noun
1.
the official proving of a will.
"the house has been valued for probate"
verbNORTH AMERICAN
1.
establish the validity of (a will).

Essentially, until a Will goes through probate, it's not legally enforced. Many banks/financial institutions will release funds without probate under a certain value, but they do so at their own risk.

Glad we could be of help