How does one decide it is time to sell Marks and Spencer shares

GuyfromLondon

My mother wishes to sell some of her Marks & Spencer shares acquired back in the 1950s.  You may be able to answer some questions:

What is the best way to sell the shares?  Their registrars, Equiniti seem to charge £60 but presumably there are cheaper ways.

I have a lasting power of attorney, can I use this to sell the shares on per behalf (obviously with her consent)?  This could make using an online platform easier.

As the shares were purchased so long ago presumably virtually the whole amount will be liable for capital gains tax so she could sell £3k before the end of the tax year and another £3k after 6 April to avoid any tax?

I understand that stamp duty is 0.5%.  Will this be dealt with and accounted for by the trading platform, or will I need to print off a stock transfer form and send it to HMRC.

I don't think that this last point is relevant as she still has the certificates but what is the procedurer if you have lost one.  I seem to have lost my certificate for a few shares (the rest are held in a nominee account) and I've been hoping taht the company is acquired and I am sent a new certificate but I'm not sure that it will happen.

UKX69

GuyfromLondon said:

My mother wishes to sell some of her Marks & Spencer shares acquired back in the 1950s.  You may be able to answer some questions:

What is the best way to sell the shares?  Their registrars, Equiniti seem to charge £60 but presumably there are cheaper ways.

I have a lasting power of attorney, can I use this to sell the shares on per behalf (obviously with her consent)?  This could make using an online platform easier.

As the shares were purchased so long ago presumably virtually the whole amount will be liable for capital gains tax so she could sell £3k before the end of the tax year and another £3k after 6 April to avoid any tax?

I understand that stamp duty is 0.5%.  Will this be dealt with and accounted for by the trading platform, or will I need to print off a stock transfer form and send it to HMRC.

I don't think that this last point is relevant as she still has the certificates but what is the procedurer if you have lost one.  I seem to have lost my certificate for a few shares (the rest are held in a nominee account) and I've been hoping taht the company is acquired and I am sent a new certificate but I'm not sure that it will happen.

I used to hold shares in certificated form and trade online with iWeb. If I wanted to sell shares cheaply, I would transfer these into my iWeb account by downloading a transfer form and crest transfer form from the website, sending those off with the certificates and a few days later the stock would appear online and then I would sell for £5. There is no stamp duty on share sales.

wmb194

GuyfromLondon said:

My mother wishes to sell some of her Marks & Spencer shares acquired back in the 1950s.  You may be able to answer some questions:

What is the best way to sell the shares?  Their registrars, Equiniti seem to charge £60 but presumably there are cheaper ways.

I have a lasting power of attorney, can I use this to sell the shares on per behalf (obviously with her consent)?  This could make using an online platform easier.

As the shares were purchased so long ago presumably virtually the whole amount will be liable for capital gains tax so she could sell £3k before the end of the tax year and another £3k after 6 April to avoid any tax?

I understand that stamp duty is 0.5%.  Will this be dealt with and accounted for by the trading platform, or will I need to print off a stock transfer form and send it to HMRC.

I don't think that this last point is relevant as she still has the certificates but what is the procedurer if you have lost one.  I seem to have lost my certificate for a few shares (the rest are held in a nominee account) and I've been hoping taht the company is acquired and I am sent a new certificate but I'm not sure that it will happen.

For lost certificates you need to contact the registrar to have new ones issued. Prepare yourself to be ripped off on the fees.

UKX69

wmb194 said:

GuyfromLondon said:

My mother wishes to sell some of her Marks & Spencer shares acquired back in the 1950s.  You may be able to answer some questions:

What is the best way to sell the shares?  Their registrars, Equiniti seem to charge £60 but presumably there are cheaper ways.

I have a lasting power of attorney, can I use this to sell the shares on per behalf (obviously with her consent)?  This could make using an online platform easier.

As the shares were purchased so long ago presumably virtually the whole amount will be liable for capital gains tax so she could sell £3k before the end of the tax year and another £3k after 6 April to avoid any tax?

I understand that stamp duty is 0.5%.  Will this be dealt with and accounted for by the trading platform, or will I need to print off a stock transfer form and send it to HMRC.

I don't think that this last point is relevant as she still has the certificates but what is the procedurer if you have lost one.  I seem to have lost my certificate for a few shares (the rest are held in a nominee account) and I've been hoping taht the company is acquired and I am sent a new certificate but I'm not sure that it will happen.

For lost certificates you need to contact the registrar to have new ones issued. Prepare yourself to be ripped off on the fees.

I can confirm that. A number of years ago one of the brokers I dealt with for certificates lost 3 lots of shares. Of course, being the owner it fell to me to get these replaced. £230 total charge by three different registrars. Refunded by broker plus compensation.

[Deleted User]

GuyfromLondon said:

My mother wishes to sell some of her Marks & Spencer shares acquired back in the 1950s.  You may be able to answer some questions:

What is the best way to sell the shares?  Their registrars, Equiniti seem to charge £60 but presumably there are cheaper ways.

I have a lasting power of attorney, can I use this to sell the shares on per behalf (obviously with her consent)?  This could make using an online platform easier.

As the shares were purchased so long ago presumably virtually the whole amount will be liable for capital gains tax so she could sell £3k before the end of the tax year and another £3k after 6 April to avoid any tax?

I understand that stamp duty is 0.5%.  Will this be dealt with and accounted for by the trading platform, or will I need to print off a stock transfer form and send it to HMRC.

I don't think that this last point is relevant as she still has the certificates but what is the procedurer if you have lost one.  I seem to have lost my certificate for a few shares (the rest are held in a nominee account) and I've been hoping taht the company is acquired and I am sent a new certificate but I'm not sure that it will happen.

I moved away from equiniti a long time ago. Moved to HL and now with Iweb. 

Certificated shares tend to cost more to sell. Iweb charges £5 per trade.

With regards to tax think she gets capital gains allowance before she gets taxed. 

Maybe contact the confirm they will be able to confirm the other points. 

[Deleted User]

I still haven't sold any of my holdings. I am trying to decide if to sell and buy vanguard funds instead 😂 

kinger101

My answer is sell now because unless your job depends on holding them, theres a lower risk way of investing in stocks.

[Deleted User]

I have sold 4000 of my 7705 holdings today. 

Will buy vanguard global funds tomorrow. 

surreysaver

Sell half, keep half. You'll both win and lose. Cancel each other out.

[Deleted User]

surreysaver said:

Sell half, keep half. You'll both win and lose. Cancel each other out.

Was emotionally attached 😂 

Easier looking back and wishing away hard to time the market