Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Louisiana
Do it yourself succession possible?
My Father recently died. All children are OK with living Mother to have everything. Mom and Dad own a house, 2 cars. Mom wants to sell Dad's $1,000 of stock, but he did not declare a beneficiary and stock company demands Mom go through succession, which will cost approx. $1,200. Obviously, its not worth paying someone to do this when the stock is only worth 1,000. More details: Estate (house, cars, insurance $) valued at 99K, house is involved, there was NO will, and a spouse and adult children ARE able to sign an affidavit as to the facts and amount of the estate. Does Mom have to go through succession to sell the stock? If so, is it possible for a person (her son) or Mom to do this ourselves?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Do it yourself succession possible?
Stocks are usually transferred or sold through a transfer agent such as Equiserve. Transfer agents provide a method for dealing with stocks involved in an unprobated estate.
Find out who the transfer agent is and present the situation to them. It sometimes takes going beyond the first person you contact and getting to a manager.
This doesn't always work, but is worth a try.
Because there is real estate involved, a do-it-yourself succession would not be practical.
Re: Do it yourself succession possible?
You are dealing with far more than the stock. The real estate is probably the largest part of the succession. You will have to deal with that eventually and now is probably the easiest time.
Contact a lawyer. Whenever land is involved there is too much risk of error in a succession. The price quoted might also be beatable.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
