Finding share holdings of deceased relative
Discussion
My wife's uncle died recently and we heard he had shares in various companies going back 40 years. Unfortunately there was a fire at his house some years ago, so some paperwork may have been lost. Is there any way to search for shareholdings across all companies? We tried the gretel and mylostaccount sites but that seems to want to know company names to check. Would he get annual statements etc for any companies he had shares in?
In my experience, unless he was on line, there are annual statements, try the free service at Setld,
Also in the UK, a lot of shareholding’s are managed by EQ (Equiniti) including the banks, Centrica, BT etc., so contact them, you will need to jump through a load of hoops though and pay them if you want them released, maybe even probate.
Also in the UK, a lot of shareholding’s are managed by EQ (Equiniti) including the banks, Centrica, BT etc., so contact them, you will need to jump through a load of hoops though and pay them if you want them released, maybe even probate.
As already suggested, I'd try contacting the main registrars. It's very possible that the companies have been taken over, disappeared, changed names etc in the intervening decades.
Your relative should've received an annual summary of any dividends received for his tax records. However, as with dividend payments, they might've been purely electronic with no paper trail.
If you've got access to his bank statements, you could trawl through them for any evidence of dividends. However, in my experience, the transaction description for such payments can be rather cryptic.
Unfortunately, none of the above is going to be of any use if the companies were private or unlisted.
Your relative should've received an annual summary of any dividends received for his tax records. However, as with dividend payments, they might've been purely electronic with no paper trail.
If you've got access to his bank statements, you could trawl through them for any evidence of dividends. However, in my experience, the transaction description for such payments can be rather cryptic.
Unfortunately, none of the above is going to be of any use if the companies were private or unlisted.
gmaz said:
Thanks for the advice. Am I right in thinking that some shares don't pay dividends, so there would not be evidence of payments on the bank statements?
Correct, some might pay dividends sporadically or not at all. However, most large listed UK companies will generally pay them on a regular basis.C69 said:
Correct, some might pay dividends sporadically or not at all. However, most large listed UK companies will generally pay them on a regular basis.
I usually set mine to reinvest - they don't appear on bank statements.The process of having everything online and no paper is going to cause no end of problems in the future.
Perhaps I should invest in orphan funds!
Rough101 said:
In my experience, unless he was on line, there are annual statements, try the free service at Setld,
Also in the UK, a lot of shareholding’s are managed by EQ (Equiniti) including the banks, Centrica, BT etc., so contact them, you will need to jump through a load of hoops though and pay them if you want them released, maybe even probate.
What is Setld ? I've tried google and can't see anything relevant.Also in the UK, a lot of shareholding’s are managed by EQ (Equiniti) including the banks, Centrica, BT etc., so contact them, you will need to jump through a load of hoops though and pay them if you want them released, maybe even probate.
gmaz said:
Rough101 said:
In my experience, unless he was on line, there are annual statements, try the free service at Setld,
Also in the UK, a lot of shareholding’s are managed by EQ (Equiniti) including the banks, Centrica, BT etc., so contact them, you will need to jump through a load of hoops though and pay them if you want them released, maybe even probate.
What is Setld ? I've tried google and can't see anything relevant.Also in the UK, a lot of shareholding’s are managed by EQ (Equiniti) including the banks, Centrica, BT etc., so contact them, you will need to jump through a load of hoops though and pay them if you want them released, maybe even probate.
Simpo Two said:
I usually set mine to reinvest - they don't appear on bank statements.
The process of having everything online and no paper is going to cause no end of problems in the future.
Perhaps I should invest in orphan funds!
The process of having everything online and no paper is going to cause no end of problems in the future.
Perhaps I should invest in orphan funds!
You are following theoretically the best investment way.
Keep money in a good business, don't do withdrawals.
I rarely do dividend reinvestment though, simply because every reinvestment constitutes a new additional purchase.
I cannot be bothered with the associated record keeping.
(When within an ISA, then not applicable.)
An HMRC requirement, but perhaps many shareholders just ignore.
gmaz said:
Thanks for the advice. Am I right in thinking that some shares don't pay dividends, so there would not be evidence of payments on the bank statements?
Quite right.
Wonder if you might discover a holding in Berkshire Hathaway Inc.?
They have only ever paid dividends on one occasion. A silly mistake says the Chairman.
A holding could be worth millions.
Is there a way of getting a search done on an individual shareholders name to reveal any shares?
I'm sorting my late mothers affairs and about to start probate and IHT payment. Mums tax code has been altered due to reflect receiving dividends but we have no paperwork for any shares.
Dad (also dead) used to work for and have shares with for Yorkshire Water (Kelda) and we think those shares were cashed in, possibly purchase of Halifax shares but not entirely sure.
Computershare require a name of the share company to do a search, but we don't know who any shares were with.
I'm sorting my late mothers affairs and about to start probate and IHT payment. Mums tax code has been altered due to reflect receiving dividends but we have no paperwork for any shares.
Dad (also dead) used to work for and have shares with for Yorkshire Water (Kelda) and we think those shares were cashed in, possibly purchase of Halifax shares but not entirely sure.
Computershare require a name of the share company to do a search, but we don't know who any shares were with.
Edited by The Gauge on Friday 31st October 18:16
We have drawn a blank with finding mums shares, yet her tax code breakdown clearly shows an allowance for dividends.
We phoned HMRC today and they said she received £800 in dividends last year, so she must have quite a few. We have had to send them a letter explaining, along with our forms for calculating how much IHT we need to pay on her estate. I anticipate quite a lengthy wait to hear from them. After IHT is paid, we will no doubt have to submit more forms if the shares are found, and pay more iHT. It's a bit of a pain really.
We phoned HMRC today and they said she received £800 in dividends last year, so she must have quite a few. We have had to send them a letter explaining, along with our forms for calculating how much IHT we need to pay on her estate. I anticipate quite a lengthy wait to hear from them. After IHT is paid, we will no doubt have to submit more forms if the shares are found, and pay more iHT. It's a bit of a pain really.
LeoSayer said:
Looking at their website they seem to need the names of the companies that the shares are in, which is what we don't know The Gauge said:
Looking at their website they seem to need the names of the companies that the shares are in, which is what we don't know
Did you try https://equiniti.com/uk/ ?They were most useful with my wife's uncle's shares and found about 8 companies with a total of £160K worth of share value.
gmaz said:
Did you try https://equiniti.com/uk/ ?
They were most useful with my wife's uncle's shares and found about 8 companies with a total of £160K worth of share value.
My brother might have contacted them, I'll check, thanks.They were most useful with my wife's uncle's shares and found about 8 companies with a total of £160K worth of share value.
What info did you have to provide them? Do they just need a name and address of the person?
gmaz said:
Did you try https://equiniti.com/uk/ ?
They were most useful with my wife's uncle's shares and found about 8 companies with a total of £160K worth of share value.
That's a good point - how many such registrars are there?They were most useful with my wife's uncle's shares and found about 8 companies with a total of £160K worth of share value.
The Gauge said:
My brother might have contacted them, I'll check, thanks.
What info did you have to provide them? Do they just need a name and address of the person?
Name, Address, DoB, NI number, anything you have really e.g. if you know they had shares in company A they could be linked to company B etcWhat info did you have to provide them? Do they just need a name and address of the person?
gmaz said:
Name, Address, DoB, NI number, anything you have really e.g. if you know they had shares in company A they could be linked to company B etc
We've contacted equity and there rest, they all say the same, they need to know the name of the company that mum held shares with. The problem is we don't know what shares she had, so we have nothing to start from. It's the thought of there being shares that we don't know of and that money sitting with that company forever, thats annoying, and means that money has gone to waste.
Edited by The Gauge on Saturday 1st November 09:42
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