US share holding on death - Etrade

bikeman

I am the administrator of a fair number of shares which the deceased (a UK citizen, resided in the UK) received as part of her renumeration working for a US company.

The US broker is Etrade. Etrade's website says that upon notification of death they will assign a case manager to guide executors through the process. No case manager has been assigned. https://us.etrade.com/knowledge/life-stage-planning/notifying-us-of-someones-death?icid=et-content-beneficiariescard-learnmore

The deceased died in June 2024. 8 months later we have not even managed to speak to the beneficiary department. Phone calls are not answered within the maximum uk call time of 60mins and emails are ignored. The electronic forms etrade provide for estate account applications are US specific and do not acept UK addresses or tax references. Customer services will not transfer calls and offer platitudes but no real help.

I have printed copies of the forms but the W8BEN for the estate is particularly confusing in that it tried to cover all forms of business entities and so its not clear what parts should be completed for an estate. 

I have tried to make a complaint through etrade and morgan stanley but again have been ignored. I am now considering complaining through FINRA and the SEC. I'm not sure if these are the correct bodies though.

Does anyone have any experience of transfering a deceased shares in a US company to a UK estate?

I realise that I may require some professional assistance but am reluctant to waste money if etrade just ignores them. Again if anyone has recomentations.  

Keep_pedalling

I can’t help with what to do to get this moved on, but I would strongly recommend selling the shares rather than transferring them otherwise the beneficiaries are going to have the same problem if they want to do anything with them. Single company share are also high risk investments.

Hoenir

bikeman said:

Does anyone have any experience of transfering a deceased shares in a US company to a UK estate?

That's probably the crux of your issue. Are you attempting to transfer the shares yourself and who to.  Without a
broker/platform ? 

bikeman

[Deleted User] said:

If etrade administered the employer's share plans, you could try contacting the employer's share plan team and ask them to help hassle etrade.

Maybe worth a try. Though she did leave their employment 15 years ago and even if they have employee records that far back I fear that such a large global company would just refer me to UK payroll who would refer me to back etrade. 

bikeman

Hoenir said:

bikeman said:

Does anyone have any experience of transfering a deceased shares in a US company to a UK estate?

That's probably the crux of your issue. Are you attempting to transfer the shares yourself and who to.  Without a
broker/platform ? 

I dont follow what you are saying. It is normal for executors to gather the estate's assets prior to distribution to beneficiaries. Opening an estate account with the current broker is the first step. In anycase the lack of co-operation from etrade despite being given the probate grant is the issue here.

Keep_pedalling

bikeman said:

Hoenir said:

bikeman said:

Does anyone have any experience of transfering a deceased shares in a US company to a UK estate?

That's probably the crux of your issue. Are you attempting to transfer the shares yourself and who to.  Without a
broker/platform ? 

I dont follow what you are saying. It is normal for executors to gather the estate's assets prior to distribution to beneficiaries. Opening an estate account with the current broker is the first step. In anycase the lack of co-operation from etrade despite being given the probate grant is the issue here.

Normally you would either transfer the shares to the beneficiaries directly once you have probate, or cash them in and distribute the cash. 

Claude_and_Eustace

I  have managed this process (somehow!). It was actually a surprise to myself when they transferred the shares to me as for months they were insisting on a court document with raised seal to recognise me. As the estate was intestate and (I thought at the time) insolvent I wasn’t going to apply for probate!

But, without someone as a point of contact you are going to struggle. Could you find the CEO and email them directly? I had to do this with another company who wouldn’t respond for 14 months. I emailed the CEO and had a reply the next day! 

I googled W8BEN and there was a good guide to filling it out online, particularly how different fields translated e.g. they had some unique identifier that was just out NI number. 

bikeman

Keep_pedalling said:

bikeman said:

Hoenir said:

bikeman said:

Does anyone have any experience of transfering a deceased shares in a US company to a UK estate?

That's probably the crux of your issue. Are you attempting to transfer the shares yourself and who to.  Without a
broker/platform ? 

I dont follow what you are saying. It is normal for executors to gather the estate's assets prior to distribution to beneficiaries. Opening an estate account with the current broker is the first step. In anycase the lack of co-operation from etrade despite being given the probate grant is the issue here.

Normally you would either transfer the shares to the beneficiaries directly once you have probate, or cash them in and distribute the cash. 

I have letters of administration. I need access to the shares in order to sell/distribute them.

bikeman

Claude_and_Eustace said:

I  have managed this process (somehow!). It was actually a surprise to myself when they transferred the shares to me as for months they were insisting on a court document with raised seal to recognise me. As the estate was intestate and (I thought at the time) insolvent I wasn’t going to apply for probate!

But, without someone as a point of contact you are going to struggle. Could you find the CEO and email them directly? I had to do this with another company who wouldn’t respond for 14 months. I emailed the CEO and had a reply the next day! 

I googled W8BEN and there was a good guide to filling it out online, particularly how different fields translated e.g. they had some unique identifier that was just out NI number. 

Were your shares also with etrade? I assume you had to somehow show that you were the beneficiary and there were no others?

This estate is also intestate but I have the Letters of Administration, so there really shouldnt be any problem. Etrade are just incompetent. 

Its the estate W8BEN-E not the W8BEN form that I'm struggling with. 

Claude_and_Eustace

bikeman said:

Claude_and_Eustace said:

I  have managed this process (somehow!). It was actually a surprise to myself when they transferred the shares to me as for months they were insisting on a court document with raised seal to recognise me. As the estate was intestate and (I thought at the time) insolvent I wasn’t going to apply for probate!

But, without someone as a point of contact you are going to struggle. Could you find the CEO and email them directly? I had to do this with another company who wouldn’t respond for 14 months. I emailed the CEO and had a reply the next day! 

I googled W8BEN and there was a good guide to filling it out online, particularly how different fields translated e.g. they had some unique identifier that was just out NI number. 

Were your shares also with etrade? I assume you had to somehow show that you were the beneficiary and there were no others?

This estate is also intestate but I have the Letters of Administration, so there really shouldnt be any problem. Etrade are just incompetent. 

Its the estate W8BEN-E not the W8BEN form that I'm struggling with. 

Sorry no, I meant to say they were with a different company. I’ve just checked and I didn’t have to do a W8BEN-E, but I would Google it or, as someone else suggested, ask ChatGPT. It is quite a steep learning curve and as I said, it was actually a surprise when it was approved. It did take over 14 months though and sometimes I’d hear nothing for a few months as it was “with the lawyers”. 

probate_slave

I recently completed a W-8BEN-E for the estate of my late mother to ensure the estate isn't charged US withholding tax. My position is slightly different from yours in that shares in US companies are held by a UK custodian who filled in the form and required just a signature and date from me.

In case it's helpful, these were the only fields populated:

Part I  Identity of Beneficial Owner
1 Estate of NN
2 UNITED KINGDOM
4 Estate box checked
6 My personal address in capitals
10 Reference number (the estate portfolio)

Part III Claim of Tax Treaty Benefits
1a UNITED KINGDOM
1b Other: Article 23 of the US/UK treaty paragraph 2(F)

Part XXX Certification
Certification box checked
Signature, name in capitals, date in US format

Good luck!