How to Mail Stock Certificates, etc

[DaveLeeNC]

My wife and I are doing some estate planning stuff and as part of this we have to mail in some stock certificates (low 6 figure value - all going to the same place) and some Treasury I-Bonds (also low 6 figure value).

I will probably use Fedex and send it in some certified/traceable manner. The issue of insurance is less clear to me. Do folks typically insure this stuff? Neither the I-Bonds or stock certificates are easily cashable (but not impossible) and if lost they are both replaceable (at a nominal or no cost).

How have folks here handled this - thanks.

dave

 

[Jerry1]

Couldn’t you take the bonds to a bank?

I guess I’d insure them for something just do they might care a little more. Plus, your time to deal with a loss is worth something. Though I’m wondering if they’ll let you insure them. In a way, if they can be replaced, they’re value is very low to nothing.

 

[DaveLeeNC]

Jerry, the bank has a path to handle bonds being sold for sure. But in the conversation that I just had with a banker (Medallion Signatures) regarding how to get these in the hands of the Treasury/ComputerShare, that was not offered.

My wife is worried about the scenario of the shares being lost or stolen and then cashed in. It is a very low risk but I guess not zero.

dave

 

[Dash man]

My wife and I are doing some estate planning stuff and as part of this we have to mail in some stock certificates (low 6 figure value - all going to the same place) and some Treasury I-Bonds (also low 6 figure value).

I will probably use Fedex and send it in some certified/traceable manner. The issue of insurance is less clear to me. Do folks typically insure this stuff? Neither the I-Bonds or stock certificates are easily cashable (but not impossible) and if lost they are both replaceable (at a nominal or no cost).

How have folks here handled this - thanks.

dave

When I sent in my I Bonds, I took pictures of them to record the numbers i'd need to have them replaced if needed. Then I sent them UPS.

 

[DaveLeeNC]

When I sent in my I Bonds, I took pictures of them to record the numbers i'd need to have them replaced if needed. Then I sent them UPS.

Thanks - that is my inclination but my worrier type spouse is worried about the lost/stolen and then cashed scenario. Tracking and sending overnight seems adequate to me, but I am not the problem here.

dave

 

[Jerry1]

Tracking and sending overnight seems adequate to me . . .

When I’ve shipped a firearm for repair, it has to be sent next day air. They track those packages very carefully. I would do as suggested - take pictures, then send. Should be fine. I’ve also bought silver and gold and that’s how it’s been shipped. Just let them know what it is and make sure you do what they require. It will get there.

 

[MRG]

No problem. You don't really need the certs, any carrier should be able to deliver them. Like suggested save the cert #.

 

[jim584672]

Stock certificates are registered these days so if it gets lost you can place a stop and have it replaced. The old days of bearer bonds have long gone.

 

[DaveLeeNC]

FWIW, both ComputerShare and the US Treasury consider the scenario of (for example) a bag of mail containing my stock shares gets stolen, the thieves rifle through and find the shares, rush down to some 'cooperative' stock broker, and sells the shares as 'impossible'. And, quite frankly, that might be the case (where the problem is found in settlement somehow - I am not familiar with the details of that process).

The I-Bonds seem a bit riskier to me as all I had to do to sell one in the past was present ID and the bonds and my local bank cashed them in. But in this case it was going to an account registered to the owner of the I-Bonds. So .,...

One thing is obvious - no one outside my household is worried about this.

dave

 

[Sunset]

F....

One thing is obvious - no one outside my household is worried about this.

...

It's not their money, so why would outsiders worry.

The insurance is pretty cheap, at least get a few thousand covered, that way if it disappears you can tell the carrier - replace it or pay me the insured value.

Will save you a lot of work/effort.
I'd also take pictures first of course, and tracking, plus pray

 

[DaveLeeNC]

It's not their money, so why would outsiders worry.

The insurance is pretty cheap, at least get a few thousand covered, that way if it disappears you can tell the carrier - replace it or pay me the insured value.

Will save you a lot of work/effort.
I'd also take pictures first of course, and tracking, plus pray

For the sake of clarity I was saying that no one outside of my household worries about this generic risk (as opposed to my personal risk). And the generic risk that I am referring to is losing the certificates (somehow in the mail) and having them liquidated by whoever found/stole them. This would be hard to do, I realize.

From what I know insurance (at least at Fedex) is 1% so it is relatively pricey if you want to protect the entire value in this case (low 4 figures). My suspicion is that, since this is a replaceable item, the cost of replacement is all that could be insured. I believe the fee is some fixed amount plus 3%.

dave

 

[Sunset]

You could do a road trip, and consider the cost of mailing + insurance , as instead paying for the trip.

When Harry mailed the hope diamond, he insured the entire value and trusted UPSP:
https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/snapshot/hope-diamond-mail-wrapper

 

[MRG]

Call the transfer agency and tell them they're lost and you want to redeem the shares. Provide them the cert#s.