Shares are considered property on a par with other objects of the property, for example, real estate or a car. Securities are classified as the movable property and they can also be sold, bought, given as a gift, pledged, exchanged and, of course, bequeathed and inherited.
There are two possible scenarios:
- Heirs have the right to receive securities as an inheritance.
- Heirs have the right to refuse the inheritance.
Please note: when a client (heir) calls 7555 to clarify information on transactions and assets in the testator's account, the support division specialists do not provide information on the brokerage account, since the heir is considered the third party. At the same time, the heir can be additionally consulted on the inheritance procedure.
To Accept an Inheritance through a Notary of the Republic of Kazakhstan:
1. The heir, within six months from the date of death of the owner of the brokerage account, the client of Freedom Broker, shall apply to a notary with an application for acceptance of the inheritance.
2. The notary receives the necessary information about the testator's securities from a single registrar. The notary also sends an official request to Freedom Broker (by e-mail [email protected] or [email protected]), providing a death certificate, to obtain an extract on the presence of a brokerage account and assets of the testator.
3. The notary draws up a certificate of inheritance rights.
4. The heir visits the nearest Freedom Broker branch and provides the following documents*:
- certificate of inheritance rights (obtained from a notary),
- death certificate of the testator,
- signs an order to write off financial instruments from the personal account.
*Additional documents may be required, depending on the specific case. For example, if the securities cannot be divided according to the shares specified in the certificate, a Certificate of Division of Inherited Property must be provided, in which the notary will indicate the distribution of the securities in whole units (without fractional values).
5. The client's manager accepts the documents and opens a brokerage account for the heir (if the account is not open). A brokerage account must be open for each heir, even if minors are among them. In this case, the inherited property due is transferred to the child, NOT to the parent or guardian.
6. The client's securities are transferred to the brokerage account, based on an order to credit the securities, submitted from the heir's account. Cash funds (if any) are also transferred based on an application for the transfer of cash funds to the heir's bank details. In the case of minor heirs, in order to accept applications from a parent/guardian, documents issued by the guardianship and custody authorities confirming the right to manage the minor child's property must be provided. Cash funds will be transferred to a bank account opened in the name of the minor heir.
To Accept an Inheritance in Other Jurisdictions:
1. The heir, within six months from the date of death of the owner of the brokerage account, the client of Freedom Broker, shall apply to a notary with an application for acceptance of the inheritance.
2. The notary receives the necessary information about the testator's securities from a single registrar. The notary also sends an official request to Freedom Broker through the Ministry of Justice, providing a death certificate, to obtain an extract on the presence of a brokerage account and assets of the testator.
3. The Ministry of Justice sends the request to Freedom Broker and forwards the response to the notary.
4. The notary draws up a certificate of inheritance rights.
5. The heir visits the nearest Freedom Broker branch and provides the following documents*:
- certificate of inheritance rights (obtained from a notary),
- death certificate of the testator,
- signs an application for the transfer of cash funds / an order to write off financial instruments from the personal account (as applicable).
*Additional documents may be required, depending on the specific case. For example, if the securities cannot be divided according to the shares specified in the certificate, a Certificate of Division of Inherited Property must be provided, in which the notary will indicate the distribution of the securities in whole units (without fractional values).
6. The client's manager accepts the documents and opens a brokerage account for the heir (if the account is not open). A brokerage account must be open for each heir, even if minors are among them. In this case, the inherited property due is transferred to the child, NOT to the parent or guardian.
7. The client's securities are transferred to the brokerage account, based on an order to credit the securities, submitted from the heir's account. Cash funds (if any) are also transferred based on an application for the transfer of cash funds to the heir's bank details. In the case of minor heirs, in order to accept applications from a parent/guardian, documents issued by the guardianship and custody authorities confirming the right to manage the minor child's property must be provided. Cash funds will be transferred to a bank account opened in the name of the minor heir.
Commission for Transfer of Securities: in accordance with the tariffs published on the broker's website*
- Freedom Finance JSC – KZT 4,000 per issuer
- Freedom Finance Global PLC - no commission within FFGlobal
*Tariffs may change over time; updated information can be found on the broker's website.
Renunciation of an Inheritance:
To refuse, the heir shall provide a certificate of refusal of an inheritance, within six months from the date of opening of the inheritance. In such cases, the Company is guided by the Civil Code.
Civil Code
Article 1074. Right to Renounce Succession as Heir
- The heir has the right to refuse an inheritance within six months from the date of opening of the inheritance. For additional reasons, the court may extend this period, but not more than two months.
- To refuse, the heir shall submit an application to a notary, at the place of opening of the inheritance.
- The heir loses the right to renounce succession as heir after expiration of the period granted to her/him for this purpose.
- When refusing an inheritance, the heir has the right to indicate that she/he is refusing it in favor of other persons from among the heirs of any order by will or by law, including in favor of those called to taking or inheriting per stirpes.
Article 1083. Escheated Property
- If there are no heirs either by will or by law, or none of the heirs has the right to inherit (Article 1045 of the Civil Code), or all of them have refused the inheritance (Article 1074 of the Civil Code), the inheritance is recognized as the escheated property.
- The escheated property comes into the communal ownership at the place of opening of the inheritance.