Share certificates in trust ?

jscol

I thought I'd only been investing for 3 years but it appears I've owned shares for longer than I thought.
I've recently been dealing with my parents' paperwork (due to health issues) and found that they have a small number of shares which appear to be held in trust for me.
The various share certificates have my name and my mum's name on them and as far as I can tell the dividends have been paid into a bank account that again appears to be held in trust for me with both names appearing on the bank account. I think these shares and the bank account date back about 30 years and I would have been under 18 at that point.
Given recent health events its not really feasible to speak to my mum about these certificates. 
Any ideas what I could or should do? One thing I dont quite understand is who the shares will actually belong to? Would it be me or her? Or can no-one tell based on the fairly limited information I have.

xylophone

You might try the bank where the account is held - you might also check the registrars of the shares.
It is probable that your mother held the accounts in bare trust for you.
If so, while you are the beneficial owner your mother is the legal owner and the financial institutions may or may not assist.
Do you have Power of Attorney for your mother/father?
If not, are they capable of giving it?
https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney

jscol

This is where it gets all a bit messy. 
They are power of attorney for each other. I am listed as the next in line to be their power of attorney (that's on the official document.)
My dad is mentally fine but not very good with finances and no real knowledge of these shares. My mum is presently unwell in hospital and liable to be so for some time. 
I can certainly speak to Equiniti who is the registrar for all the shares and try and determine who the legal owner is.

I suspect I have quite a bit of sorting out to do for my parents in next few months and this is just one of numerous things I have to resolve. 
If they do officially belong to me I'd be keen to transfer for them to my ISA as they are presently unwrapped and I suppose I'd like to know who officially owns them for tax / inheritance reasons. 
If my mum is the legal owner there's probably nothing I can do just now and its not a large amount of money. 
I'd always assumed that things were held in trust for children!

bowlhead99

jscol said:

If they do officially belong to me I'd be keen to transfer for them to my ISA as they are presently unwrapped and I suppose I'd like to know who officially owns them for tax / inheritance reasons. 
If my mum is the legal owner there's probably nothing I can do just now and its not a large amount of money. 
I'd always assumed that things were held in trust for children!

Things are held in trust for children because children do not have legal capacity to hold title to the assets themselves. If they are held in bare trust (and they would not be in discretionary trust if the potential beneficiary's name was literally stated on the certificate of ownership of the asset) then the beneficiary of the trust can demand that they are transferred into their own name once they are 18. If the trustee does not comply, the person can seek the assistance of the court. 

But until the legal ownership is transferred, 'the legal owner' is the person who acquired them as trustee.  This doesn't mean that the shares are 'theirs' for tax reasons though.

Legal ownership can differ from beneficial ownership if someone is holding them as nominee or trustee for someone else. If the beneficiary has an absolute / inalienable right to the shares, and simply hasn't required the nominee or trustee to transfer them over yet, then they are still taxable on the beneficiary and not the legal owner, from the perspective of income tax, CGT and inheritance taxes. 

As you mention it is not a large sum of money and you haven't had them for 30 years there is no big deal in waiting for your mum to get better before discussing it.

The other reason (aside from a trust arrangement) why both your names would be on the bank account or share certificate would be if the bank account and shares are jointly held, i.e. you and your mum own them 50:50, which is quite different from her being the trustee and you being the beneficiary where they are yours 100:0. You mum can clarify in due course but probably easier not to try to transfer them without your mum's assistance.

pafpcg

jscol said:

.......
If they do officially belong to me I'd be keen to transfer for them to my ISA as they are presently unwrapped
.......

Just a cautionary note:  you can't "transfer" unwrapped shares into an ISA;  you would have to sell them first and transfer the cash value to your ISA (and the cash value would of course count towards your annual ISA contribution).  Your ISA provider would probably be able to arrange the sale and repurchase within the ISA, but at a cost.