Transferring Stocks and Share ISA from deceased account

Ali71

Hello all,
I have my probate certificates now, arrived by post. So I am in the process of sending them to whoever needs them etc. My father had shares, and stocks and share ISA's. I am going to transfer them to my own (considerably tinier) share account, but do his ISA's transfer across as ISA's or simply shares? I know the dividends are tax free in the ISA's but presumably if they are no longer in an ISA then they will become taxable at some point. I will ring and speak with the share account people on Monday but wondered if anyone had any idea. It doesn't say anything in the bumpf about selling his stocks and share ISA's before transferring them, only mentions cash held on account and "shares".
Many thanks.  

kuratowski

As I understand it, the ISA status of your father's accounts has ended when he died, so those investments are now unwrapped.

If you do a transfer of investments between accounts without selling them (an "in specie" transfer) it is likely take weeks or even months.  A sale followed by cash transfer will be far quicker.

Also, a sale followed by cash transfer is the only way for you to use your own ISA allowance (to the extent not already fully used) for these amounts.

Further, it may well be the case that the investments bought by your father are not so suitable for yourself.  For example, do you understand the investment thesis behind the individual stocks he has bought, and is it still valid?  If you're going to switch investments anyway, again this points to a sale followed by cash transfer.

So it all points to selling the investments within your father's account, and withdrawing the cash for you (as executor) to distribute to yourself (as beneficiary) to invest wherever you see fit.

Ali71

Thank you for that detailed answer,
I have just checked the difference in share prices between what they were valued at at time of death and what they are valued at now (a few months later), of about 5 holdings, all but one have gone up. So will this mean that if I sell them all for cash and transfer that to my account, I will be hit by a basic rate payers CGT bill for the difference if over £12300? If I do, I do, but just wondering. 
Thanks again.  

kuratowski

Yes CGT will arise on any significant gain in value between the date of your father's death and disposal.

Have a careful read of this

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/death-personal-representatives-and-legatees-hs282-self-assessment-helpsheet/hs282-death-personal-representatives-and-legatees-2021

Ali71

Hi
Thanks for that I have saved it. Going to have a think and will look at a local accountant just to go through things with and get a clear picture of what it is best  for me to do. I want to keep things as simple as possible for myself, always been PAYE as I didn't have to muck about with tax and don't want to start now unless absolutely necessary. It's just so confusing and a minefield. And phoning HMRC to make enquiries is terrifying - you can get lucky first time and speak to someone who sounds like they know what they're talking about, or you can try three different people and get three different answers.
Many thanks for your help.