Our clients have relied on us to consistently deliver this high level of professional service for over 10 years and we promise them the highest levels of efficiency and professionalism when dealing with their situation.

Probate Valuation Services

Over the past 10 years, Share Data has developed a solid expertise in portfolio valuations and more particularly in Probate valuations. With its full understanding of this administrative process, Share Data helps first-time executors as well as busy lawyers by providing a comprehensive service.

Valuation of the estate

Share Data produces formal portfolio valuations with all prices conform to the HM Revenue and Customs requirements. We provide prompt valuations for any date and all classes of investment securities including:

AIM-listed companies
Corporate bonds
Equities
Gilts & Corporation Stocks
Investment Trusts
OEICS & Unit Trusts
Overseas Equities & Government Issues
Private Companies

Our valuations include details of dividends due but unpaid at the valuation date, as well as the interest accrued on fixed-income securities and the exchange rate when necessary.

Additionally Share Data ensures safe administration of the holding by lodging copies of the death certificates with all relevant registrars and by arranging for the payments to be withheld until they can de redrawn in favour of the executors or beneficiaries.

Transfer of the shareholdings

Once the Grant of Probate has been received, the executors have the choice between liquidating the assets or transferring them to the beneficiaries. Share Data offers an effective five-step Transfer service:

Confirmation of the validity of the share certificates and replacing missing ones where necessary.
Submission of the Grant of Probate to registrars.
Preparation of the Transfer/Sale forms for client signature.
Submission of the signed Transfer/Sale forms to registrars/brokers.
Return of the new share certificates/cheque for the sale proceeds.

Additional Probate services

Over the years, we have worked on a wide variety of cases which have enabled us to enhance our probate service.
Tracing Beneficiaries

Share Data provides genealogical research, with a success rate of over 90%. When a person is not found, we produce a search report to help executors apply for indemnity insurance and prove they have fulfilled their legal obligation.

Resealing Grant of Probate

We advise on the requirements for Resealing the Grant of Probate or the equivalent process in most jurisdictions around the world. Those most commonly required for UK residents are Australia, South Africa and North America.

Share Data advises on all documentary requirements, arranges despatch and advertises the death as necessary. Furthermore, we have arrangements with advocates in many jurisdictions where court appearance is mandatory whose experience in these matters enables them to offer a prompt and efficient service.

Share Data can also assist with the resealing in the UK of an overseas Grant of Probate (or equivalent).

Capital Gains Tax Service

Capital Gains Tax is linked to the sale of a security. Share Data provides historic market prices for any date for all classes of security. Such prices are required to establish acquisition values for the Capital Gains Tax process.

Our service includes the compilation of the full transaction history of the individual shareholdings, encompassing all relevant capital changes. The following events are taken into account:

Acquisitions
Capitalisations
Consolidations
Return of capital
Changes in par value
Company name changes
Listings & de-listings
Mergers & de-mergers
Rights issues
DRIP
Scrip issues

The record of the compulsory changes alone is not necessarily a reliable guide to how an individual holding may have developed, so Share Data obtains a full history of the holding from the registrar. However we also cross-check the registrar’s record against a reputable published capital history of the company in order to verify the true position as, unfortunately, the registrar’s record cannot always be relied upon. Where de-mergers have occurred we also provide Apportionment of Base Costs.

Apportionment of Base Costs

The price of shares can be affected by different events such as de-merger or spin-off. Following such events a shareholder needs to know what proportion of the base cost of the original holding is attributable to each of the new securities they have received.
Share Data provides this crucial information for all securities listed on all markets worldwide. Such detailed information is vital for the correct calculation of a shareholder’s liability for Capital Gains Tax.

Dividend Recovery

Dividends and other distributions often remain unclaimed by shareholders, sometimes for years. Share Data can recover these outstanding dividends, be they cash or scrip, together with the corresponding tax voucher and any interest that may have accrued.

We also prepare dividends schedules for current and historic tax years which may be required for Income Tax purposes.

Unidentified Certificates

Share Data frequently receives portfolios containing certificates for old and obscure securities which require tracing and verification. Sometimes these holdings will have evolved, often by many stages, into a valid current security.

We have researched many certificates of companies which are now defunct or which became, through various changes, listed companies on the London Stock Exchange or an overseas exchange.

Share Data has the capacity to search data archives on thousands of securities and is able to provide comprehensive and detailed reports on all the changes a security has been through.
We have investigated certificates dating back to the late nineteenth or early twentieth century.

They have been as diverse as Russian and Chinese Imperial Government bonds, a Cuban stevedoring company from the 1920s and a Chilean mining company from the 1930s.

On many occasions Share Data has been able to identify current assets from certificates which the holders had assumed to be valueless.

Sale and Transfer Services

Share Data offers a comprehensive service to help executors or shareholders with the liquidation or the transfer of investment securities.

Share Data provides an efficient four-step service:

Confirmation of the validity of the share certificates and replacing missing ones where necessary
Preparation of the Transfer/Sale forms for client signature
Submission of the signed Transfer/Sale forms to registrars/brokers
Return of the new share certificates/cheque for the sale proceeds
We can also assist with the sale or transfer of any overseas security.

Medallion Guarantees

Shareholders who wish to sell or transfer US securities need to sign the securities (stock) powers. The signature needs to be “guaranteed” before a transfer agent can accept the transaction.

Signature guarantees can be obtained from financial institutions such as commercial or savings banks, a credit union or a broker dealer that participates in one of the Medallion signature guarantee programs recognized by the transfer agent.

Share Data can act on the client’s behalf in this process and ensure any signature is “guaranteed” according to the requirements of the transfer agent in charge of the transaction.

We only require the following documents:
completed and signed Stock Power
securities’ certificates
identification for the signatory i.e. passport and utility bill dated within 3 months. (Certified copies of these are acceptable from a solicitor).

Contact Information

Tel: 020-7284-2806
International: +44-207-284-2806

Email: isokon@sharedata.co.uk