Help with transferring shares from my late father...

ijholdie

My father passed away back in May, and the probate process has just completed. My father had shares in a few companies (about 8 companies). My late mother who passed away in 2020 also has shares in the same companies (I also have grant of probate for her estate). I have the Shareholder reference numbers for all of the shares, and other details. Some of the shares have paper share certificates. I am an executor of both Mum and Dad's estate.

How do I go about transferring the shares into my name? 
Is there a way of doing some kind of bulk transfer (many of the shares have the same administrator eg. Equiniti)?
Do they re-issue the share certificates, and do I need to send them the old ones, or do they just issue a new one?

Grateful for any help or advice.

eskbanker

https://equiniti.com/uk/help-and-support/bereavement/bereavement-process

tetrarch

There is no way to execute a bulk transfer as your are changing the name on the official company register and a legally signed document is required. You're also transferring certificated (paper) and uncertificated shareholdings so different forms are required.

Have you considered consolidating these shareholdings electronically into a broker account such a ii? In my experience paper shareholdings are messy and clog up your postbox with unnecessary paperwork.

If you do go down this path then most brokers have "transfer in" guidance and documentation on their websites

If you decide to keep the shareholdings in their current form then if you can specifiy the shareholding (names only) and their certification status that will help with telling you which forms you need

Regards

Tet  

poseidon1

ijholdie said:

My father passed away back in May, and the probate process has just completed. My father had shares in a few companies (about 8 companies). My late mother who passed away in 2020 also has shares in the same companies (I also have grant of probate for her estate). I have the Shareholder reference numbers for all of the shares, and other details. Some of the shares have paper share certificates. I am an executor of both Mum and Dad's estate.

How do I go about transferring the shares into my name? 
Is there a way of doing some kind of bulk transfer (many of the shares have the same administrator eg. Equiniti)?
Do they re-issue the share certificates, and do I need to send them the old ones, or do they just issue a new one?

Grateful for any help or advice.

The UK ( quite rightly) is looking towards abolition of paper based shareholdings and full digitisation thereof.

Suggest you get ahead of the curve, and use one or other of the investment platforms ( HL, ii, A J Bell etc), to transfer your holdings to be held in their paperless nominee services, by setting up a general investment account.

This will be of great assistance to you, since they will not only collect and distribute dividends on your behalf, but produce very helpful year end certificates summarising your income reportable for tax purposes.

Furthermore, if you are insistent on retaining the shareholdings long term, a platform will facilitate 'bed and breakfasting' into stocks and shares isas to shelter your future income and gains from UK tax.

You have an opportunity to vastly improve on how your parents held these shares in the past, and assist your own executors in the future.

wmb194

You still need to talk to the registrars and sort that out before lodging your shares with a stockbroker.

tetrarch

If you have already notified the Registrar's of the deaths then any dividends may well have been retained.

Some of Equiniti's fees, for even the most basic of services, are outrageously egregious. You should check your dividends - they are especially sneaky as they tell you the amount due nett the fees that they charge. I had to write a letter to get the exact extent of fees for my late FIL's shareholdings

I filled out standard Stock Transfer Forms for the certificated holdings and sent them in with an official copy of the Grant of Probate and received new replacement certificates within a couple of weeks. From memory, you'll have to open a shareview account in order to transfer your late parents electronic holdings to your own name.

Regards

Tet