An essential, time-saving service

Our asset repatriation specialists can provide essential, time-saving probate research services to you, such as accurate date of death valuations on shareholdings (probate valuation), or provide an added assurance that shareholdings still exist and form part of the estate (probate valuation and verification).

Probate valuation

For probate (or Confirmation) purposes, you’ll need to obtain date of death valuations on any shareholdings. We can provide you with accurate and up-to-date valuations on shareholdings as at the date of death. This will then allow you to submit the correct figures to HMRC.

Probate verification and valuation

If you are unsure whether a shareholding still exists, we can verify whether it can form part of the estate. If required, we can also confirm if any outstanding payments are due to the estate when we contact the share registrars to verify the shareholdings. In some cases, unclaimed dividends are missed, so we will ensure that any dividend cheques are collected in.

The benefits of verifying a shareholding

Verification confirms that the shares are held in the estate, and therefore allows a correct list of assets and date of death valuations to be submitted to HMRC as part of your Inheritance Tax return. Submitting the correct figures to HMRC reduces the risk of needing to resubmit corrected information and so can speed up the estate administration process.

Verification also confirms that the shareholdings are ready for sale or transfer once the Grant of Representation has been obtained.

Overseas asset valuations

In many cases, we can obtain asset valuations for overseas shareholdings. Our Client Services Team are available to discuss work in other jurisdictions.

UK Share Sales

We also offer a trusted facility to sell UK shareholdings on behalf of the Personal Representatives. Realising funds is key to a successful estate administration process as fees and expenses need to be paid and beneficiaries are often keen to receive a distribution. Our UK Share Sales service efficiently liquidates UK shareholdings so you can quickly receive funds on account.

Case study: Great Universal Stores

Our client had come across Great Universal Stores (GUS plc) share certificates and wanted to verify the shares held in the estate. We identified that the GUS plc shares no longer existed and the shareholder would now hold shares in Burberry, J Sainsbury and Experian. This was due to a number of corporate actions that had taken place since 2005. When we verified the shareholdings, we were also instructed to check whether additional funds were due to the estate from unclaimed dividends. We found that payments from the acquisition by J Sainsbury remained unclaimed. We collected in the dividend cheques and sold the shareholdings in Burberry, J Sainsbury and Experian.

Related services

You may find these related services useful when dealing with shares both at home and overseas.

UK Share Sales

UK Share Sales

We can efficiently sell UK shareholdings on behalf of Personal Representatives, so you can receive funds on account quickly.

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Administering Foreign Assets

Administering Foreign Assets

If you need to deal with overseas shares or funds, we can help you navigate each country’s rules, forms and processes.

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Related content

These useful services can help you understand more about selling UK shares, as well as how to overcome other challenges in estate administration.

UK Share Sales Webinar

Webinar: Dealing with UK shareholdings

This webinar looks at how we can accelerate the estate administration process for you and your clients by liquidating UK shareholdings quickly and efficiently.

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Estate administration timeline

Guide: The estate administration timeline

The estate administration process can be long and complex. Explore key stages of the estate administration timeline in this informative guide.

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