newbie with share problem

[mc2fool]

Well ,down to earth with a bump
I'll let you do the sums --
511 shares of national grid
500 shares of British gas,
These are physical share certificates I've seen ,,yet solicitor has said there's only £2000 worth,so not sure what has happened to them,could my father have cashed them in but still have the certificates,

No, that's pretty unlikely. The thing is, it was 511 shares of NG and 500 shares of BG at the time of the certificates.

But in the case of NG there could have been rights issues and/or other corporate actions since then that makes it now a different number of NG shares. In these cases your father should have received a letter explaining what was happening and any options, and possibly inviting him to send in the certificate to get an updated one by return.

In the case of BG Group, that was taken over by Shell in 2016, apparently (on a quick search) for a cash and share offer, so again, he should have received a letter explaining what was happening and asking him to send in the certificate to get a Shell one and some dosh by return.

You need to get hold of the actual certificates (or good photocopies at least) and contact the registrars, at best sending them photocopies of the certificates, to find out what the situation is with the holdings now.

Edit: PS. "For each BG share, investors will receive 383p in cash and 0.4454 Royal Dutch Shell B shares..."
https://www.share.com/stock-markets-and ... d-takeover

[Dod101]

Well ,down to earth with a bump
I'll let you do the sums --
511 shares of national grid
500 shares of British gas,
These are physical share certificates I've seen ,,yet solicitor has said there's only £2000 worth,so not sure what has happened to them,could my father have cashed them in but still have the certificates,

My experience of solicitors is that they are mostly quite good on points of law but have probably got less idea than most of us when it comes to practical investment matters. With the advice you have on this thread you are probably in a better position than any solicitor to do your own digging around and you certainly have more incentive, given that you are the executor. It will not cost anything to the estate either. No point in my repeating what others have advised but for your own sake and that of the estate, act on that advice and see what you came up with.

Dod

[XFool]

Well ,down to earth with a bump
I'll let you do the sums --
511 shares of national grid
500 shares of British gas,
These are physical share certificates I've seen ,,yet solicitor has said there's only £2000 worth,so not sure what has happened to them,could my father have cashed them in but still have the certificates,

As a simple illustration, at Friday's closing prices: 511 of NG. @ 935.9p = £4782.45 (ignoring all transaction costs)

That assumes the NG. certificate is still valid.

[monabri]

With NG,

03/2017 year end 84.375p special dividend was accompanied by a 11 for 12 share consolidation.

03/2006 year end 65p special dividend was accompanied by a 43 for 49 share consolidation.

The dividend history back to 2000 is shown here.

https://www.dividenddata.co.uk/dividend ... py?epic=NG.

[discodunk]

Well ,down to earth with a bump
I'll let you do the sums --
511 shares of national grid
500 shares of British gas,
These are physical share certificates I've seen ,,yet solicitor has said there's only £2000 worth,so not sure what has happened to them,could my father have cashed them in but still have the certificates,

As a simple illustration, at Friday's closing prices: 511 of NG. @ 935.9p = £4782.45 (ignoring all transaction costs)

That assumes the NG. certificate is still valid.

so what your saying is 935.9p =£9.35
511x£9.35=£4777.85 (rounded off figure,close to your £4782.45)

[mc2fool]

so what your saying is 935.9p =£9.35
511x£9.35=£4777.85 (rounded off figure,close to your £4782.45)

No, he's saying that 935.9p = £9.359 and 511 * £9.359 = £4782.449, which is rounded to £4782.45. Share prices are not rounded to the nearest penny, only transactions are.

BUT monabri has told you of at least 2 share consolidations with NG, so if the certificate is dated between 03/2006 and 03/2017 then you actually have 511 * 11 / 12 = 468 shares, and if it's dated pre 03/2006 then you have 511 * 43 / 49 = 448 then 448 * 11 / 12 = 410 shares.

And, of course, there may have been more corporate actions prior to 03/2006 that monabri wasn't aware of.

Not to sound like a broken record, but you need to contact the registrars. They will reliably be able to tell you the state of what you have.