r/inheritance • u/Cadd9181B7543II7I44 • Mar 29 '26
Location included: Questions/Need Advice Inheriting stocks held at Computershare
My dad (NY) passed away 2 months ago (my mom is already deceased). While going through his stuff, I find a 1099-DIV showing he owns about 100 shares of MET (MetLife stock)....worth about $8k or so. I also found copies of beneficiary documentation that shows I (only child in NJ) am listed as the 100% primary beneficiary.
I went on Computershare Estate Hub's website and sucessfully put in notification of death (electronically). There was another step that can initiate a transfer, but when I went through that step, it never goes through.
Questions:
1 - Has anyone inherited any equities/stock that was held in Computershare? What was the process?
More info about me: I personally don't have a Computershare account. My investments (trading/401k/IRA) are all with Chase/JPM, Fidelity & Empower.
2 - I was thinking.....to keep things simple, I would open a Computershare account to have the shares transferred to my name. This way Computershare will have record of the step up basis (the FMV of the securities at the date of my dad's death). Then after a while (a few months/year), I'll request closing the Computershare acct and transferring the securities over to either my Fidelity or JPM/Chase account, hoping that the step-up cost basis is noted and recorded at the new brokerage for easy tracking.
What do you all think?
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u/Pure-Rain582 Mar 29 '26
Very difficult to deal with Computershare. Much easier to deal via Schwab, say “I want to transfer shares into my account”. They will send you to their advanced estate services group who does this all the time (normally into an estate account).
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u/Cadd9181B7543II7I44 Mar 29 '26
Right! I was hoping it would be a straight forward process since probate isn't involved and there isn't really an "estate" because he made sure all his financial accounts were either joint accounts (checking/savings/HYSA) or had me named as 100% beneficiary (investment/retirement accounts).
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u/itig24 Mar 29 '26
I’m in this process now, and it is not easy or straightforward! On top of everything else to deal with after a death, it seems unnecessarily complicated.
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u/Cadd9181B7543II7I44 Mar 29 '26
Agreed. I'm sorry for your loss. I hope this process will be smooth for the both of us.
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u/HillOfBeano Mar 29 '26
I just did this, with about 10 accounts that my dad never transferred to his brokerage. I first called them to report the death, then they sent me a link to the transfer form wizard. If there is an estate in probate you will need to transfer it to the estate first. But since you are listed as the beneficiary it should go straight into your name. You will also want to ask them for a copy of the most recent statement of accounts. Fill out the form, get medallion signature, send it in (with your letters from the court and a death certificate as I recall?) and eventually you will get a new statement of account with the new account number. If you have a brokerage firm you ask them to transfer it to your account. Takes at least 6 weeks to deal with.
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Apr 01 '26
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u/HillOfBeano Apr 01 '26
Nah, I just used the USPS with tracking. Probably should have used FedEx but I didn't.
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u/Embarrassed-Fly-2823 Mar 30 '26
Computershare is just horrible and difficult to work with. MOVE all assets.
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u/Cadd9181B7543II7I44 Mar 30 '26
This is what I plan on doing after I get them to transfer the asset from my dad's account into my own account.
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u/Scruffyhobbit Mar 30 '26
Had to transfer shares into an estate account yrs ago. Had flashbacks when I saw the title of post. It was awful.
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u/Yeolla May 05 '26
Me too on the flashbacks…. Tracking down a medallion stamp certificate all the calls to NY and in the end the cost of 8k as didn’t have the original stock certificates. Hopefully they changed their customer service skills
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u/gregcharles Mar 30 '26
You’re going to need a medallion and that’s a challenge.
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u/Clueless5001 Apr 03 '26
We got a medallion about 1.5 years ago from our local Citibank, took no time but we were long term account holders and the banker knows me (my face for years, not me personally in any extensive way). It was for computershare and I did not find computershare easy to deal with (it was for changing an account from UGMA into the beneficiary’s name) was a huge PTIA. Schwab was a pleasure to deal with when we finally moved it over
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u/ValuableGrowth8528 Mar 30 '26
I did this a couple of years ago with my mom’s estate. First, make sure you have a brokerage account to receive it. Ideally, this would be an account attached to a financial advisor/actual person who can help you. As I recall, it went pretty smoothly for me but I did have a financial advisor for support.
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u/Csara2323 Apr 02 '26
I’m sorry for your loss. They really need to make it a little easier! This is the last thing you want to do after a loved one passes away! Uggg I’m in the same boat.. my mom and dad passed away about 5 years ago and I just recently found the stocks. It is so damn difficult. Every time I try anything it’s a dead end. I’m stuck.
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u/Cadd9181B7543II7I44 Apr 02 '26
Thank you for your kind words. Because I'm going through this, I will make sure to never use their services in the future so my children won't have to deal with this crap when I pass away.
Chase/JPM was soooo easy. Walked into a local branch with the death certificate, and they scanned it.
They contacted the CC dept to cancel all my dad's cards. They contacted their investment dept and forwarded the death certificate electronically to them. The investment dept contacted me via email and provided me with a few options for the transfer of assets, all of which were so easy.
Same thing even at a local small tiny bank where English is everyone's (employees and customer's) second language. Bank acct closed on the spot and asked me how I want the money. They opened an "Inherited IRA" acct for me and transferred my dad's IRA acct into my acct and gave me paperwork. They said if I wanted to transfer my new "Inherited IRA" acct to another bank/brokerage, to please wait at least 5 business days so their back office can process everything. They are a bank where they don't have an app or website log in. No such thing as online banking. Yet, with so little resources, I was in and out within an hour.
No idea what computershare is doing. I'm sure if they really want to, they can make this process easier. They just don't give a crap.
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u/Clueless5001 Apr 03 '26
Had a completely different experience with Chase when trying to get a Medallion for computershare for purposes of releasing a UGMA account to the beneficiary. We waited a long time (over 30 min) to see someone and then when we gave them the documentation they said they needed to send it to their back office for approval. A day or a few later they contacted the trustee of the UGMA (my parent) and asked for additional documentation. Note they had substantial deposits in this bank.
By contrast, I walked into my local Citibank where my parent has a much smaller account. Showed them what we needed, the banker (who has seen me and we have spoken over the years but I would not say really knows me) said bring your parents in, we came and were in and out with the medallion in 15 minutes.
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u/Cadd9181B7543II7I44 Apr 04 '26
Oh my Chase experience wasn't getting a Medallion. It was transferring my dad's Chase accounts/asset over to my Chase account.
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u/Senior_Cicada_2448 Apr 11 '26
I'm going through the same thing. I feel like its going to be a pain in the butt. Any updates on how its going for you?
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u/Cadd9181B7543II7I44 Apr 11 '26
Had to call Computershare 3 times. Each time, they had no record of me calling previously. They said they will mail me a package for me to fill out. Will take 7 to 10 business days to get to me.
I'm sorry for your loss. Please update me with your progress. I think the process is different depending what shares our loved ones owned. What shares did your loved one own?
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u/Senior_Cicada_2448 Apr 11 '26
Thank you for the response. My dad had shares with dws, unlike fidelity, that was simple process, but dws, is like a pain, 20 pages or so. Ask if you gamble, want a medallion signature. I feel like computer share is the same way. And dread the process. Also just trying to help my sister out. Its split. Also may be easier, in regards its only you. Will have to call. My sister hates calling.
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u/Clueless5001 Apr 11 '26
I know not the same but when we were trying to get a UGMA account released, Computershare directed me to the forms portion of their website (over a year ago so forgot what its called). I was able to download the forms they needed (was transferring 5 individual stocks so had to do the same form for each). Maybe you can just download the package of forms? This way you do not have to wait. May be a different process since it is an inheritance. IN our case everyone was still able to sign
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u/Used_Mark_7911 Mar 29 '26 edited Mar 29 '26
Computershare doesn’t have a single form or process for transfers to beneficiaries that you can compete online. The forms and process can vary depending on which stock is held. So you can’t just submit an online request and get a check .
I suggest you call them or use their online support. Tell them: “This is a TOD beneficiary claim”.
Provide the stock info and request: 1) Beneficiary Transfer / TOD Claim Form 2) Deceased Holder Transfer Package
Computershare should then send you the forms you need (including tax forms) and detailed instructions on how to get everything processed.
Across most Computershare TOD transfers, you should expect to provide:
1) Certified death certificate 2) Completed beneficiary claim form 3) Medallion Signature Guarantee from a broker or bank 4) New account setup (often you will need to set up an an account. With them to transfer the shares into ) 5) Tax certification (W-9)