US share holding on death - Etrade

Hoenir

probate_slave said:

My position is slightly different from yours in that shares in US companies are held by a UK custodian 

US company shares can only be owned in nominee form by non US Nationals. The UK custodian will require a US platform/operation to undertake such activity. As it is they who are the named nominee holders of the stock. 

bikeman

probate_slave said:

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!

I may have completed it wrong then.

Part I
1-4 same
5 Passive NFFE
9a I put HMRCs tax reference for the estate's IHT payments
10 left blank, I didnt think the deceased's old account number was relevant

Part III was completed as follows
14 1a UK
14 1c Beneficial owner is claiming treaty benefits for US source dividends..
15 The benefical owner is claiming provisions of article 10 para 2 of treaty to claim a 15% rate of withholding.

Part XXVI
40a certify not a financial institution
40b certify no US owners

Apparently this form just gets retained. I suspect that it doesnt matter what is put on it since all their staff are completely clueless.

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. 

Youre missing the point. I cant transfer or sell anything until I have access to them.

tujeste

My wife and I have retirement accounts at ETrade - we lived and worked in the States for a number of years.

Etrade was taken over by Morgan Stanley a couple of years back . Since that takeover we have had nothing but problems trying to withdraw our retirement funds. Many parts of the ETrade website do not seem to have been updated (old phone numbers etc)  and what was a form filling process and an online upload to withdraw funds has now become a call and talk to a "colleague" process - and as you have found out it can be very difficult to get through at all.

A quick look at the Etrade website gives

United Kingdom

0 800 092 7732 (toll-free)

  as a contact number for Employee Stock Plan accounts.

 We did finally get through to a help desk at this number  +1 678-624-6210 quite recently (we were calling early morning our time using a call through site [FreeCallsToUSA.co.uk ]) 

Now we have the information needed its back to calling ETrade every other morning trying to get through

bikeman

tujeste said:

United Kingdom

0 800 092 7732 (toll-free)

I have got through on that number BUT its no use since it is a customer service number not the beneficiary dept and they refuse to transfer calls.

The beneficiary dept never answer calls within the 60 min cut off from the UK. If I had my case manager's extension number I could jump out of the queue to it but so far she has ignored my requests for it and customer services refuse to provide it.

I will try that freecallstous number but I'll bet it cuts off before they answer.

Its frankly unbelieveable how they treat their clients. We have a lot of money in these shares but there's now no chance that it will stay with etrade.

You should move your account. I would if I could.

ColinGala

You could contact ShareData.co.uk - they have a lot of experience with foreign shares and were helpful to me when I dealt with them

Hoenir

Redmayne Bentley offer cross border stockbroking services. Possibly worth a try. 

bikeman

tujeste said:

 We did finally get through to a help desk at this number  +1 678-624-6210 quite recently (we were calling early morning our time using a call through site [FreeCallsToUSA.co.uk ]) 

I've tried thtat freecallstousa number a couple of times and it doesnt work. most calls never connect. On the one time it did it only rang for a few seconds before cutting off.

bikeman

Hoenir said:

Redmayne Bentley offer cross border stockbroking services. Possibly worth a try. 

The shares are with etrade. Etrade wont release them anywhere until their bereavement process is completed.