Bequeathing Stocks and Shares - or Sell?

[siftasam]

I have some UK stocks and shares, including Aviva and Standard Life - small holdings. Dividends paid into my UK bank.

 

I am 76 years old. My Will leaves everything to my Thai partner.

 

I'm presuming (?) that transferring to her (and hoping that she might understand about them) would be very difficult - if not impossible. Is it even UK legal to do so?

 

Better for me to sell them?

 

Oops! nearly forgot. What do you think I should do with my Bradford and Bingley shares?

 

 

[CMBob]

While I agree that transferring the shares to your partner might cause bigger and more expensive problems in the future (both the understanding as you note and the expense/hassle of probate in England afterwards), you also raise the issue of trust (trust that your relationship doesn't break up and/or trust your partner won't be less than wise about the money).

Presuming you have no significant tax issues by selling the stock, you could sell the stocks now and then simply transfer the funds to your own account here (presuming you have a Thai Will that transfers your assets to your partner....a Will you can change should the need arise).  Transferring either the stock or funds to your partner now also risks what happens should the unlikely situation happen where your partner passes first (i.e., does your partner have a Will leaving assets to you and do you want to bother with a possible probate back to you later?). 

[1FinickyOne]

Ease of transition is important... if you are keeping them, make sure it is covered in a Will and that your wife is educated as to what there is and how to retrieve it...

 

I have put a lot in my wife's name as that is the surest way... of course, then it is no longer mine. 

[arithai12]

Similar situation. I am thinking of writing a will valid in my home country, nominating an executor who should have power of attorney with my bank . When the day comes, he will follow the instructions in the will: sell the shares, transfer the liquidity to my wife's account abroad, close my account.

Still need to verify this with the bank.

This way, I don't need to sell now and my wife doesn't need to concern herself with stuff in my home country.

 

This is in the event of sudden death. If it's going to be slow and inevitable, I'd do all in person - a few months don't make a difference.

[elektrified]

All I know is that someone left me some old Unilever bonds about 40 years ago and the Estate representative tried to get me to sell them rather than re-register them in the Netherlands into my name. They said the value was only a couple thousand Guilder and not worth putting any time into them. But I held firm and even Unilever wasn't sure what to do as the bonds were 30+ years old and never surrendered a decade before when recalled to issue new bonds. It took about 18 months to complete the complex process and I received them finally. I held them until around 2002 when they were recalled and I received more than 40,000 Euros for them!

 

Moral of the story is that [most] blue chip investments tend to appreciate over the long haul.

[vinny41]

On 8/29/2022 at 9:56 AM, arithai12 said:

Similar situation. I am thinking of writing a will valid in my home country, nominating an executor who should have power of attorney with my bank . When the day comes, he will follow the instructions in the will: sell the shares, transfer the liquidity to my wife's account abroad, close my account.

Still need to verify this with the bank.

This way, I don't need to sell now and my wife doesn't need to concern herself with stuff in my home country.

 

This is in the event of sudden death. If it's going to be slow and inevitable, I'd do all in person - a few months don't make a difference.

power of attorney is null and void on death, your executor will be able to all of the above on production of a death certificate

[siftasam]

Many thanks for the very helpful replies.

 

I think I'd better sell, hopefully given time to do so.

 

(My partner won't even make a Will to protect her 9 year old daughter - just as she won't have Co-vid vaccinations!)

 

But how and where do I sell them to best advantage?

 

My sole financial interests in England are my Halifax Bank account and being a client of Hargreaves Lansdown.

 

Any help with this much appreciated.

[Danderman123]

i own a lot of US stocks, and was thinking of transferring some to a Thai lady. I know that requires her to have a US Tax ID, but what are the other requirements for a Thai citizen to own US stocks?

[Dante99]

59 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

i own a lot of US stocks, and was thinking of transferring some to a Thai lady. I know that requires her to have a US Tax ID, but what are the other requirements for a Thai citizen to own US stocks?

The place you hold them, Vanguard, Schwab or whoever, will have requirements which you should check.  Sometimes opening a foreign account is easy, sometimes not.