Chapter A. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

• Jurisdiction: Washington

A. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

1. Introduction. Obtain, if available, the stock certificates and bonds owned by the decedent on the date of death. If the stock certificates or bonds are not available, obtain a list of them from the personal representative, from the safe deposit box inventory, or from the decedent's investment advisor. See Letter 5.D.1 for letter of inquiry to investment advisor.

The Uniform Commercial Code (RCW 62A.8-101 et seq.) governs the transfer of securities, including transfers by personal representatives (RCW 62A.8-401 to -407).

In general, a corporation or transfer agent may require assurances that the transfer is authorized. For a personal representative this usually means providing appropriate evidence of appointment in the form of Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration dated within the last 60 days (RCW 62A.8-402). A corporation or transfer agent making a transfer with the appropriate assurances and meeting the other requirements of Title 62A RCW is not liable to any person suffering a loss as a result of the transfer.

Names of transfer agents can be obtained from an investment advisor, or online on the company's website on its "Shareholder Information" page.

2. Stocks.

(a) Inventory and Appraisement Description. For the form of Inventory and Appraisement, see Chapter 3, Examples. List the stocks alphabetically indicating the stock exchange on which they are traded, such as New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange, Over-the-Counter, or "Not listed" if infrequently traded. Alternatively, if the decedent had one or more investment advisors, the investment advisors' statement of assets can be referred to in the Inventory and Appraisement and a copy of the listing attached.

Name of issuing corporation. The correct name of most corporations can be found in COMMERCE CLEARING HOUSE, INC., INHERITANCE, ESTATE AND GIFT TAX REPORTER STOCK TRANSFER DIRECTORY . The correct name can also be taken from the stock certificates unless the name was changed subsequent to the date of the certificate.

Number of shares. Obtain the number of shares from the personal representative or the decedent's investment advisor, by examining the stock certificates, or by writing to the registrar for the issuing corporation (Letter 5.D.3). Determine if any changes in capitalization, such as stock splits, might mean a greater or lesser number of shares than indicated. For mutual funds, you can write to the fund to verify the number of shares owned.

Type of stock. List the type of stock (common, preferred, convertible preferred, cumulative preferred, class (A or B), etc.).

Par value. List the par value where needed for identification. The par value may be found in COMMERCE CLEARING HOUSE, INC., INHERITANCE, ESTATE AND GIFT TAX REPORTER STOCK TRANSFER DIRECTORY . If it is not listed, the par value can be found in MERGENT DIVIDEND RECORD or on the stock certificate, except this latter indication may be changed by action of the corporation subsequent to the date of the certificate.

CUSIP number. List the CUSIP number if available. The CUSIP number is an eight- or nine-digit number assigned to traded securities by the American Banking Association's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures ("CUSIP"). The number can be found on the stock certificate or obtained from an investment advisor. Several brokerage firms provide a free CUSIP lookup service on their online securities research pages. It is necessary to indicate this number for each security on the federal estate tax return. It is also necessary to have the CUSIP number in order to access information about a particular security stored on a database.

Dividends. If a corporation declared a dividend to holders of record on or before the date of death but payable after the date of death, the amount of the dividend will be an asset of the estate and must be listed. This information can often be obtained through the company's website on its "Shareholder Information" page. Dividend information can also be obtained through publications such as MERGENT DIVIDEND RECORD . The date declared, ex-dividend date, holder of record date, and date payable should be shown as well as the amount of dividend per share. An excerpt from a page of MERGENT DIVIDEND RECORD is found on page 5-3.

(b) Appraisal. The per share value (unit value) to be used for...