Transferring Securities – We have reached the end of our five-part blog conversation on the many rules divorcing spouses need to keep in mind when transferring ownership of differing types of property. If you’ve been following along, you know by now this process is not as simple as handing a vehicle, life insurance or a bank account over to your former spouse and walking away.
That’s because the property in question could be in your name only, or in the name of both spouses. Maybe the property has a lien against it. Whatever the case may be, the goal is to have a clear transfer without any loose ends.
If you’ve missed the previous four blogs, the links to each of those can be found below.
https://nelsonlawgrouppc.com/transferring-personal-property-spouses-financial-instruments/
https://nelsonlawgrouppc.com/transferring-personal-property-spouses-vehicles/
https://nelsonlawgrouppc.com/transferring-life-insurance/
https://nelsonlawgrouppc.com/transferring-personal-property-spouses-livestock/
This week’s topic: Transferring Securities
Securities are tradable financial assets and can include stocks, bonds, debentures, derivatives, banknotes, certificate of interest, money market, government bonds, and certificates of deposit. A brief description of how to transfer this property type between divorcing spouses has been provided below.
To transfer uncertificated shares of stock, such as those held in a brokerage account, the spouse awarded the securities can set up another account with the same firm. The transferor spouse then gives the firm a letter, along with any forms the brokerage requires, instructing the firm to place the transferred shares in the new account.
To transfer certificated shares in a publicly traded company, the transferor spouse can either sign the back of the stock certificate or execute a power of attorney allowing the recipient spouse to change the securities’ ownership and deliver the stock certificate to the other spouse. The transferor spouse’s signature on the certificate or security power should be Medallion guaranteed.
Note
Most publicly traded options are traded through a brokerage firm and can be transferred in the same way as uncertificated securities. Furthermore, a certified copy of the divorce decree should be given to an employer if a non-employee spouse has been awarded an interest in the future proceeds of employee stock options.
Did you find this blog series helpful? Please don’t hesitate to check our blog archive for more information on this topic or any others that might interest you. And if you would like us to discuss a particular family law topic in these blogs, please contact our Nelson Law Group, PC office to let us know. We love hearing suggestions from our loyal readers. Transferring Securities
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Source: Nelson Law Group