Cashing stock certificates?

Question

Is it possible to cash in certificates without the original purchasers signature. Original purchaser deceased and no written documentation to prove current holder. Company stock has risen dramatically since original purchase.

Answer 1

In order to cash in the certificates without the owner's signature, you have to:

1. Have proof of death. You can do that in a number of ways, the easiest being getting in touch with the attorney who wrote the will, or the Executor of the will or the widow(er). From the attorney or Executor you can request a letter certifying the death of the owner; from the surviving widow(er), a copy of the Death Certificate.

2. Proof of ownership. This is the tricky part. Since there is no written documentation, the question to be answered is: How did the stock certificate come into your possession? If by inheritance, you should have a copy of the will (see attorney/Executor above). If a gift, prior to owner's passing, then you will need a "certified letter" from someone who witnessed, or has knowledge of the gift, preferably from the surviving spouse.

I would recommend that you contact a bank or broker (Charles Schwab, Merrill Lynch, Price Waterhouse, Scott Trade, etc.) and ask them what procedure you should follow.

As an aside: When you go to a broker, they will probably want you to set up an account. That way, they can collect their fee before you see the money. Further, for tax purposes, if it was a gift/ inheritance, the "cost basis" is the price on the day it was given/received, or the next preceding business day.

Answer 2

Do you know what the ticker of the stock is or if PENN-PACIFIC CORP was bought out or still exists? I did a quick look up and could not find any publicly traded stock with that name. In any case your best bet would be to find a local brokerage (ie a Scottrade) office and see if they can lock up the stock. If they can find it, they would be able to tell you the value and convert it to cash. If the company is not publicly traded, I would use the information on the certificate to contact them and ask what you need to do to redeem.