How best to deal with shares after death
Discussion
Hi folks.
My Old Dear had a bunch of shares as per of her estate and am wondering how best to "sort" them out please. I'm lead to believe the easiest way to do is with the grant of probate (under application already to release an ISA) rather than via a Small Estates form process. I've also been told that appointing a stock broker would sort it all out for me, but their fees vary considerably. I have no interest in keeping the shares myself so just want rid of them asap via the easiest and cheapest method.
At last statement :
BG Group £1030
Centrica £280
National Grid £220
Lloyds Banking £100
Any help/advice appreciated, thanks.
My Old Dear had a bunch of shares as per of her estate and am wondering how best to "sort" them out please. I'm lead to believe the easiest way to do is with the grant of probate (under application already to release an ISA) rather than via a Small Estates form process. I've also been told that appointing a stock broker would sort it all out for me, but their fees vary considerably. I have no interest in keeping the shares myself so just want rid of them asap via the easiest and cheapest method.
At last statement :
BG Group £1030
Centrica £280
National Grid £220
Lloyds Banking £100
Any help/advice appreciated, thanks.
Obtain the grant of probate
Contact the registrars and get them to send you the forms or down load them yourself
Unfortunately I have had to do this 3 times. It's a common process and very straighfiorward to do yourself.
Fill in the forms, include the grant and certificates. Transfer them to your name and then sell them. The registrar will help you if it's anything like the service I got.
Do not pay a stock broker
Contact the registrars and get them to send you the forms or down load them yourself
Unfortunately I have had to do this 3 times. It's a common process and very straighfiorward to do yourself.
Fill in the forms, include the grant and certificates. Transfer them to your name and then sell them. The registrar will help you if it's anything like the service I got.
Do not pay a stock broker
Those are ex public utilities, she would have got those 'free' when they went PLC many years ago. They are all way down in value at the moment, I would hold on to them for a while, see if they recover, unless you need the cash. BG and Shell are merging at some point, may have an affect on the shares.
megaphone said:
Those are ex public utilities, she would have got those 'free' when they went PLC many years ago. They are all way down in value at the moment, I would hold on to them for a while, see if they recover, unless you need the cash. BG and Shell are merging at some point, may have an affect on the shares.
BG is trading at about an 8% discount to the Shell bid. If you want a punt hold onto them for another couple of months. As someone else said these shares are all off so much at the moment you may be better just keeping them.megaphone said:
Those are ex public utilities, she would have got those 'free' when they went PLC many years ago. They are all way down in value at the moment, I would hold on to them for a while, see if they recover, unless you need the cash. BG and Shell are merging at some point, may have an affect on the shares.
I don't think they were free unless she worked for British Gas back in 1986. It was that period when the public were encouraged to buy small amounts of shares at preferential rates.As others have said contact the registrars put them in your name and hang on for a while. Good luck
My mum had BT shares, and her estate was not sufficient to require probate.
The shares were handled by Equiniti and I had to provide them a copy of the death certificate. When I was speaking to them on the phone, they told me that this would allow them to liquidate the shares - however, in reality that isn't what they did - they transferred them into my name, and when I questioned it they said that was the only thing they could have done.
The shares were handled by Equiniti and I had to provide them a copy of the death certificate. When I was speaking to them on the phone, they told me that this would allow them to liquidate the shares - however, in reality that isn't what they did - they transferred them into my name, and when I questioned it they said that was the only thing they could have done.
33q said:
Obtain the grant of probate
Contact the registrars and get them to send you the forms or down load them yourself
Unfortunately I have had to do this 3 times. It's a common process and very straighfiorward to do yourself.
Fill in the forms, include the grant and certificates. Transfer them to your name and then sell them. The registrar will help you if it's anything like the service I got.
Do not pay a stock broker
Just to add: do not use the registrar!Contact the registrars and get them to send you the forms or down load them yourself
Unfortunately I have had to do this 3 times. It's a common process and very straighfiorward to do yourself.
Fill in the forms, include the grant and certificates. Transfer them to your name and then sell them. The registrar will help you if it's anything like the service I got.
Do not pay a stock broker
I had to sort my mum's shares out and the registrars wanted anything from a percentage of the transaction to a set charge of +£30.
I set up an account with X-O.co.uk, transferred the shares to them and then sold them for a flat fee of £5.95 per transaction.
Make sure you check how much the registrar would charge before asking them to handle it. Using an online broker like X-O adds another round of paperwork to the whole process but will almost certainly be cheaper.
I'm having an absolute nightmare with Equinity & Computershare following my Dad's death last year.
They've had everything, probate, birth, marriage (mine) & death certificates, unicorns and they STILL want more money to transfer them into my name so I can sell them
As I'm in the City at the moment, I plan on taking the certificates to a stockbroker and letting them deal with it
They've had everything, probate, birth, marriage (mine) & death certificates, unicorns and they STILL want more money to transfer them into my name so I can sell them
As I'm in the City at the moment, I plan on taking the certificates to a stockbroker and letting them deal with it
Simpo Two said:
Wouldn't it be nice if the companies who issue the shares had a little bloke in an office to deal with share sales. Then you could send him the death certificate and get your condolences letter and cheque a few days later.
No other companies/office blocks/middlemen required.
I may be due a parrot here, but as I know next to nothing about shares is your post meant to be a sarcastic hint or.. ? No other companies/office blocks/middlemen required.
Simpo Two said:
Wouldn't it be nice if the companies who issue the shares had a little bloke in an office to deal with share sales. Then you could send him the death certificate and get your condolences letter and cheque a few days later.
No other companies/office blocks/middlemen required.
You mean like every other company we've had to deal wit in this traumatic time?No other companies/office blocks/middlemen required.
Share Companies are the ONLY ones that make this process difficult
They even demand an admi fee of £50 to tell you how much they are worth for probate!
All that jazz said:
I may be due a parrot here, but as I know next to nothing about shares is your post meant to be a sarcastic hint or.. ?
Not at all. I find the world of shares utterly incomprensible. I bought some Freeserve shares which have vanished without trace, and inherited some Shell shares the complexity of which vastly outweighs the point of having them. I'd sell them but of course they're well down in value.ali_kat said:
I plan on taking the certificates to a stockbroker and letting them deal with it
Right. That's almost certainly what's causing your pain. Paper certificates are waaaaay out of date - I think the market "dematerialised" (i.e. it all went electronic) back in the 1990s. Doing anything these days from an old "paper" starting point will inevitably involve faffing and expense.Hope it all works out for you.
Just reviving this thread as I'm a bit stuck again. Had some complications involving the other executor but all sorted now and received the grant of probate solely in my name a few weeks ago. Sent these off to Equiniti (Royal Dutch Shell, Centrica, Lloyds) and Capita (National Grid). Not heard back from Capita yet but Equiniti have sent 'sell' forms back for each and listed their fairly substantial fees and percentages that they will take, also adding that if their value isn't higher than their fees then they will refuse to sell! They want the share certificates for each company enclosing with the forms too. Unfortunately I can't find it for Lloyds but have lots of account statements and tax vouchers for them - will that suffice as proof? They've said there is a £60 admin fee per lost certificate.
The schedule of shareholdings they've included is as follows :
Centrica 89.00 shares
Lloyds 188.00 shares
Royal Dutch Shell 41.00 shares
No idea what current value is.
I was recommended to contact SVS Securities broker to sort it all out but despite 2 separate attempts and promises to call me back after asking if they could deal with a deceased's shares I'm no further ahead.
I would rather not transfer to my name then sell them for personal reasons.
The schedule of shareholdings they've included is as follows :
Centrica 89.00 shares
Lloyds 188.00 shares
Royal Dutch Shell 41.00 shares
No idea what current value is.
I was recommended to contact SVS Securities broker to sort it all out but despite 2 separate attempts and promises to call me back after asking if they could deal with a deceased's shares I'm no further ahead.
I would rather not transfer to my name then sell them for personal reasons.
All that jazz said:
I would rather not transfer to my name then sell them for personal reasons.
In which case you're going to have to suck up the registrar's fees.ISTBC but I don't think there is any other way to sell shares in a deceased's name.
Shell are currently around the £20 mark. Have a look on on LSE.co.uk. Make sure you get the right ones when checking.
Looking at the amounts involved, if you sell them via the registrar then there'll be barely anything left. Your only alternative is to transfer them to your name (or someone else's who agrees) and sell them through an online broker for a flat fee per transaction.
I've not yet sorted out my missing certificates but you can guarantee the only proof the registrar will accept is the certificate otherwise you'll be paying the ridiculous lost cert. fee!
Centurion07 said:
In which case you're going to have to suck up the registrar's fees.
ISTBC but I don't think there is any other way to sell shares in a deceased's name.
Shell are currently around the £20 mark. Have a look on on LSE.co.uk. Make sure you get the right ones when checking.
Looking at the amounts involved, if you sell them via the registrar then there'll be barely anything left. Your only alternative is to transfer them to your name (or someone else's who agrees) and sell them through an online broker for a flat fee per transaction.
I've not yet sorted out my missing certificates but you can guarantee the only proof the registrar will accept is the certificate otherwise you'll be paying the ridiculous lost cert. fee!
You say I can transfer them to "someone else who agrees" - is this correct? I was under the impression that they'll only transfer them to whoever is named on the grant. A friend of mine has an account with SVSXO already so I'd be interested to learn more about this if you have info please.ISTBC but I don't think there is any other way to sell shares in a deceased's name.
Shell are currently around the £20 mark. Have a look on on LSE.co.uk. Make sure you get the right ones when checking.
Looking at the amounts involved, if you sell them via the registrar then there'll be barely anything left. Your only alternative is to transfer them to your name (or someone else's who agrees) and sell them through an online broker for a flat fee per transaction.
I've not yet sorted out my missing certificates but you can guarantee the only proof the registrar will accept is the certificate otherwise you'll be paying the ridiculous lost cert. fee!
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