is it possible to trace and find lost shares?
Discussion
just seeking advice for a Friend whos Father passed away,
He is pretty sure that his father had shares in an insurance company or something similar, but as yet he has been unable to find any letters or shares certificates.
He said that he last remembers seeing a letter in his fathers home over 10 years ago wiht some kind of connection ( possibly shares current value?) and nothing since and cant even find that letter.
Although previously his father kept excellent records they seem to have slipped massively in the past few years probably due to memory problems/ age ect and are in a bit of a mess.
Is there anyone he can contact to try and trace the shares simply using his fathers name and DOB etc?
He is pretty sure that his father had shares in an insurance company or something similar, but as yet he has been unable to find any letters or shares certificates.
He said that he last remembers seeing a letter in his fathers home over 10 years ago wiht some kind of connection ( possibly shares current value?) and nothing since and cant even find that letter.
Although previously his father kept excellent records they seem to have slipped massively in the past few years probably due to memory problems/ age ect and are in a bit of a mess.
Is there anyone he can contact to try and trace the shares simply using his fathers name and DOB etc?
If the father owned shares in a large insurance company ( or similar) then he will almost certainly have been receiving dividends - probably half yearly. These may have been auto credited to the father's bank account so go through 12 months bank statements looking for the dividend credits. If the dividends came as cheques,look at paying in book stubs (and look in the paperwork for the dividend counterfoils that would have been attached to the cheques).
Outside chance the father owned the shares on some kind of e-platform (Hargreaves Landsdown, Fidelity, Share Centre type thing) in which case dividends may have gone there - so look for paperwork like that......
Outside chance the father owned the shares on some kind of e-platform (Hargreaves Landsdown, Fidelity, Share Centre type thing) in which case dividends may have gone there - so look for paperwork like that......
It is know that a lot were lost in the "credit crunch" when some company went under, but should still be some record somewhere if there are any left.
Another issue is that there were several bank accounts and not all of them are known also some at previous addresses and unused since moving supposedly.
Another issue is that there were several bank accounts and not all of them are known also some at previous addresses and unused since moving supposedly.
We had this issue when my FIL passed away...his widow had no idea what he had purchased but knew there were shares all over the place in loads of different companies.
I think there are 2 shared registrars in the U.K., capita and equinity, as an executor of the will we wrote to them, explaining the situation that he had passed away, proved details of his most recent addresses. They sent back details of all the shares he owned and then we were able to get them sold. If you don't have the share certificates they can also provide new ones for a fee.
I think there are 2 shared registrars in the U.K., capita and equinity, as an executor of the will we wrote to them, explaining the situation that he had passed away, proved details of his most recent addresses. They sent back details of all the shares he owned and then we were able to get them sold. If you don't have the share certificates they can also provide new ones for a fee.
We had similar with my FIL and one of the ways we found out what he'd got was when the invite to the AGMs came around for the various companies - it took a while as MIL wasn't fully aware of what he'd got squirrelled where! It's a difficult one but sense say that you try & get a basic understanding of family investments or hope that the family accountant has full details.
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