Cashing in Shares

[SkiSarah]

Hi,

I am responsible for my Dad's care - he has borderline late-stage alzheimers & although he's still at home (with a live-in carer) he will have to be moved to a Care Home soon. I am currently scraping the financial barrel to continue to pay for his care - as we all know Social Services don't even want to talk to you if he has more than £23k of assets. I am practically down to that with his savings but he has a share portfolio - portfolio is rather a grand word for it - he has a few shares from various companies - but only small amounts from each company.

I know nothing at all about how to sell shares - I have dipped a toe in and find that to cash in a small amount of shares there is a minimum fee, and if they have to process a POA & a change of address (ie. his address to mine) they charge more for that. Plus the fact I don't have all the share certificates and incomplete information for most of it. So it seems to me that if I pay each of the share companies fees for selling, POA & change of details there won't be very much left at all. Is there a cheaper and/or less painful way to do it?

All advice gratefully received.

Sarah.

 

[Theresalwaystomorrow]

Hi SkiSarah
If your dad is late stages Alzheimer’s have you had him assessed for CHC?
Just a thought

 

[Shedrech]

hello @SkiSarah
welcome to TP
it's a shame you have to be concerned about this issue when you'd rather just be concerned for your dad
I'm not informed about selling shares - maybe contact an independent financial advisor and ask about this, they may well not charge for a short appointment just to answer a general question (in the hope of getting some good will and business)
if your dad's finances are close to the upper limit, do contact the LA and start to discuss the payment of fees; it's best not left until after his assets fall below that level, especially if a move to a care home is likely - you need to know exactly where you stand
I hope you already have Attendance Allowance in place and a disregard of Council Tax

 

[Steve115]

You could start with your bank or look at money saving expert. There is information on the latter that gives a good indication

 

[canary]

my mum had some shares and I found the same problems. I confess that i never did cash them in until after she passed away and they were dealt with as part of the probate.

 

[Sam Luvit]

I’d check first, Mum has shares & I've been told they wouId be treated as income, not as face value for capital assessment

If you want to sell, it depends on the type of shares, government stock, company shares etc as to the best way to sell them.

 

[SkiSarah]

hello @SkiSarah
welcome to TP
it's a shame you have to be concerned about this issue when you'd rather just be concerned for your dad
I'm not informed about selling shares - maybe contact an independent financial advisor and ask about this, they may well not charge for a short appointment just to answer a general question (in the hope of getting some good will and business)
if your dad's finances are close to the upper limit, do contact the LA and start to discuss the payment of fees; it's best not left until after his assets fall below that level, especially if a move to a care home is likely - you need to know exactly where you stand
I hope you already have Attendance Allowance in place and a disregard of Council Tax

Thank you

 

[SkiSarah]

I’d check first, Mum has shares & I've been told they wouId be treated as income, not as face value for capital assessment

If you want to sell, it depends on the type of shares, government stock, company shares etc as to the best way to sell them.

Thank you - good point - I hadn't thought about the possibility of treating them as income

 

[SkiSarah]

my mum had some shares and I found the same problems. I confess that i never did cash them in until after she passed away and they were dealt with as part of the probate.

Another option I hadn't thought of - thank you for the reply

 

[SkiSarah]

Hi SkiSarah
If your dad is late stages Alzheimer’s have you had him assessed for CHC?
Just a thought

Yes I had thought of that but they are very firm about what constitutes nursing care & what does not - I haven't given up though! Thank you

 

[Soobee]

I ended up dealing with most of the shares after probate. With some companies you can sell them for a smaller fee than others. Some even do a special offer to buy them back. We couldn't sell all of them because we didn't have the share certificates for all, and replacement of the share certificate was £50, much more than their value. So I still get 20p here and there from dividends for the ones we can't sell. It was things like BT, British Gas etc. Small amounts but they added up. When I did a financial assessment for the Local Authority, they took 10% off the share value for fees etc. But that was several years ago.

 

[Beate]

Gosh, looks like shares are a major pain to deal with after death! So glad John didn't have any. His £1 Premium Bond provided me with enough grey hair, with all the form filling!

 

[Soobee]

Gosh, looks like shares are a major pain to deal with after death! So glad John didn't have any. His £1 Premium Bond provided me with enough grey hair, with all the form filling!

Yes, selling shares was very much like sorting out things with NS&I. Long winded process!