Transfer agent

What it means

Shares held directly, rather than in a brokerage account, are recorded by a transfer agent. After a death the transfer agent — not the company and not a broker — is who the estate deals with.

They set their own documentary requirements, and those usually include a medallion signature guarantee, which is a stamp only certain financial institutions can give.

Shares held in a brokerage account are handled by the broker instead, which is a much shorter process.

Why it matters

Directly registered shares are the slowest asset in most estates, and the requirements are stricter than a bank's.

The medallion guarantee is the specific obstacle: it is not a notarization, and a notary cannot provide it.

When you are likely to meet it

• When a share certificate or a direct registration statement is found.
• When a company's registrar asks for documents a bank would not.
• When an estate holds shares outside a brokerage account.

Related terms

• Affidavit of domicileA sworn statement of where somebody legally lived when they died, used to transfer securities.
• Beneficiary designationA named person on an account or policy who receives it directly on death, without it passing through the will or probate.
• Certified copyA copy issued by the office that holds the original, carrying a seal or stamp that says so. A photocopy is not one.
• EstateEverything the person owned at the moment they died, treated as one thing that has to be settled.
• Inheritance tax waiverA document from a state tax authority releasing an asset so it can be transferred, used in the few states that charge inheritance tax.
• Intangible personal propertyProperty with value but no physical form — bank accounts, shares, policies, pensions, patents, a debt somebody owes.
• Letters testamentaryThe court document proving that the person named in a will has actually been appointed to act.
• Medallion signature guaranteeA bank's stamp guaranteeing a signature on a securities transfer. It is not a notarization.
• Non-probate assetSomething that passes to a new owner automatically, without a court.
• SIPCThe scheme that returns customers' securities if a brokerage fails. It does not cover losses in the market.
• Trusted contact personSomebody named on a financial account whom the firm may contact if it is worried — about the account holder's health, or about a transaction.

Sahvelo guidance that uses this

• Investment accounts