Paper stock certificates and dividends?

biosurfer1 · 06-01-2018, 08:05 AM

Some people in my family like to give paper stock certificates as gifts. My son has a couple from Disney, etc in nice little frames. It's not going let me retire early, but it did occur to me that Disney pays a dividend, and I have no clue how it works when you have the physical certificate.

We have moved since he received it, but we never got a dividend check at the old address anyways. I don't even think the address is on the certificate.

Any ideas? I don't really care about the money because we're talking a couple bucks, but money is money and if there is a time limit on claiming it, might as well and throw it in his college fund.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

I always wished the Porsche stock certificates were available in individual certificates. I always wanted one framed and on my wall.

I have no idea how to answer your question. I would not be surprised to hear the certificates you have are are decorative only.

Craig T · 06-01-2018, 08:15 AM

Do the certificates represent one individual share, or several?

If it's more than 10, I would color photo copy the certificate and put the copy in the frame. Take the real cert down to your local Charles Schwab or Bank of America - Merrill Lynch and open an account. Then elect to reinvest the dividends.

It might be fun to see how many shares you own after a decade of dividend reinvestment. You can set landmark dates and compare the number to the copy of the original certificate.

ossiblue · 06-01-2018, 08:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by biosurfer1

Some people in my family like to give paper stock certificates as gifts. My son has a couple from Disney, etc in nice little frames. It's not going let me retire early, but it did occur to me that Disney pays a dividend, and I have no clue how it works when you have the physical certificate.

We have moved since he received it, but we never got a dividend check at the old address anyways. I don't even think the address is on the certificate.

Any ideas? I don't really care about the money because we're talking a couple bucks, but money is money and if there is a time limit on claiming it, might as well and throw it in his college fund.

My understanding of stock ownership is limited, but here's my understanding of your situation.

Whether or not you possess the physical stock certificate is not that relevant so having it framed is a nice touch. Not all stocks generate dividends, and those that do, the payment is not always in money, especially if the amount of stock owned is small. Many times the dividend is simply reinvested into more stock so, over the years, the number of shares you own increases. The fact you receive no "checks" from Disney or others would not be unusual, however, you should be receiving stock statements indicating the dividend growth and reinvestment. Certainly, you should be receiving an annual tax statement, 1099-DIV, for filing your taxes.

Rich76_911s · Rich76_911s's Garage

If you've moved since the issuance and did not contact the company there is a very good chance the dividend payments and additional information has been sent to the old address.

If you have unclaimed dividends they may be avaliable through your state. IE for california (assuming your old address was also in california) there is a site where you can search for unclaimed money:

https://ucpi.sco.ca.gov/UCP/

biosurfer1 · 06-01-2018, 09:09 AM

He has 3 shares. All 3 are individual paper stock certs. Disney actually stopped issuing the paper certificates a while back (2013ish). You can still get the framed version but they are not actual certificates, but replica's and your share is tracked electronically.

Funny thing is the framed authentic stock cert's seem to sell for about 50% more than the stock is currently worth, which is about 60% more than what it was originally bought for when he was born!