Deceased Share owner dies..Who gets the shares? (Procedure? there is a WILL)

Danny_G · 20 July 2018 at 4:31AM

When a deceased shares and Stocks owner dies? who gets entitlement to all stocks an shares?

Does Will executor automatically get them?

When a person passes away and leaves behind some shares in such companies:

* Prudential
* Dragon Oil
* Transco
* Shell Oil
* Other companies perhaps, which is unknown at this stage? (see question 3 below)

Their widowed spouse is the executor on the will.

when this share owner dies, do they automatically get passed on to their widowed spouse

1) Will the widow executor get entitlement to all the shares?

2) What is the procedure to go ahead to get all shares from each company, in the name of the widow spouse, who is the executor of the will?

3) How can it be found out the Total shares, from every company that the deceased owned?

Is there one website/ or 1 specific company where you can get this information from?

eg if the share owner had shares spreadout between any additional companies, how can this be found out?

4) Would a legal representative/service (solicitors) needed to be used for this request? or it can be done by the widow theirself?

5) Any other advice?

Would be appreciated answers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 during this emotional issue
.
Thanks

Yorkshireman99 · 20 July 2018 at 5:58AM

The ownership passes according to the will or if there no will the intestacy rules apply. companies may require shares to be sold rather than transferred. There are share tracing services if the shareholding!!!8217;s are not known. It should be possible to DIY but there will be a lot of detailed work to be done. Being system systematic is the crucial.

LobsterMemory · 20 July 2018 at 7:34AM

2 There are effectively 3 shareholder registrars for the UK - Equinit, Computershare and Link

This is the procedure for Equiniti. The others are similar

http://www.shareview.co.uk/4/Info/Portfolio/Default/en/Home/Shareholders/Documents/NOD_guide.pdf

3 When you contact the registrars, registering the death, you ask them to see if there are other shareholdings in the deceased's name and known addresses

4 This can be done by the executor without legal representation

5 If you've got non-UK shares especially US, then the process gets markedly more complicated and expensive

nom_de_plume · 20 July 2018 at 8:04AM

Danny_G wrote: »

When a deceased shares and Stocks owner dies? who gets entitlement to all stocks an shares?

This can only be answered by the what the Will says. I assume there is a Will, as you have aluded to in your post?

How can it be found out the Total shares, from every company that the deceased owned?

Is there one website/ or 1 specific company where you can get this information from?

eg if the share owner had shares spreadout between any additional companies, how can this be found out?

A search through bank statements may reveal dividend payments from the various shares held although it is equally possible the shares were held through an account whereby the dividends are paid directly into that account. I use ig.com and all my dividends go there.

AnotherJoe · 20 July 2018 at 8:27AM

How are the shares held? Paper certificates ? Within an account with a company ?

Brynsam · 20 July 2018 at 8:55AM

nom_de_plume wrote: »

A search through bank statements may reveal dividend payments from the various shares held although it is equally possible the shares were held through an account whereby the dividends are paid directly into that account. I use ig.com and all my dividends go there.

Another possibility (which could be more difficult to trace) is if the shareholder subscribed to a dividend reinvestment plan (i.e. dividends were not paid out, but were used to buy more shares in the company).

If a company hasn't actually paid dividends in recent years, then of course there will no record of a dividend payment.

Looking at the last tax return made by the deceased might help, especially if they have listed out on a working sheet all the dividends received.

Vortigern · 20 July 2018 at 4:40PM

If any shares were held in joint names, they pass automatically to the survivor. The survivor would need to contact the registrar and send a death certificate.

If the will makes a specific bequest of the shares to someone, you must do what the will says.

e.g. I bequeath all my BP shares to Battersea Dogs Home.
Or. I bequeath all my shares to my grandson Lucky Jim

If there's no specific direction about the shares, they form part of the residue of the estate and should be valued, sold if necessary, and distributed to the residual beneficiaries.

The shares will need to be valued at the date of death for probate and possible inheritance tax purposes.

Savvy_Sue · 21 July 2018 at 1:08AM

I don't know if this is part of what you're asking, but initially I believe it's the Executor who has to make enquiries about what shares are held, so that they can then be passed on to the beneficiary / beneficiaries named in the will.

Even if the shares are passing to the widow / executor, she's going to need to make those enquiries in order to establish the value of the shares to add into the probate forms.

it's pretty much the same as with bank accounts, unless they are joint accounts: the executor has to inform the bank of the death and that they are dealing with the estate, and the bank gives them a closing statement. The executor obtains probate, gathers all the funds in and then distributes them. So if you write a will which says "I leave my NatWest account to Fred and my Lloyds account to Freda", Fred and Freda can't just rock up to the bank with the will and say "look, I've had this account left to me." The executor has to sort it out on their behalf.

Deceased Share owner dies..Who gets the shares? (Procedure? there is a WILL)

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