Equity Services, Inc. is pleased to announce a new Date of Death (DOD) valuation service available through our clearing firm, National Financial Services (NFS).
What is the Date of Death Valuation Service?
When a client passes away, accurate valuation of the account as of the date of death is required for estate and tax reporting purposes. Through this new service, NFS will generate a comprehensive valuation report of eligible securities held in the account as of the client’s date of death.
The report includes key valuation data such as:
- Security description and CUSIP/symbol
- Share quantity and position value
- High, low, and average prices for securities priced using market data
- Ex-dividend value (when applicable)
- Total value of all included securities in the account
The report is provided as an administrative convenience to assist advisors and clients during estate settlement.
Use Cases for Service
Date of death valuations can be time-consuming and complex, particularly when accounts hold many individual securities.
For example, an advisor contacted our team late last year regarding a client who passed away over a weekend. The client held a UMA portfolio containing over 150 individual equity positions. Determining the appropriate valuation required identifying high and low prices for each security on both the Friday before the death and the Monday after—resulting in over 600 individual data points to compile.
Using the NFS Date of Death Valuation service would have allowed the advisor to obtain a complete report quickly and efficiently, eliminating the need to manually gather each data point.
Overview of IRS Valuation Methods
The IRS generally allows the following valuation approaches for publicly traded securities:
Equities and ETFs
- The fair market value is typically determined using the average of the high and low trading prices on the date of death.
- If the date of death falls on a weekend or market holiday, the average of the high and low prices from the nearest trading dates before and after the date of death may be used.
Mutual Funds
- Mutual funds are typically valued using the closing NAV on the date of death.
Advisors and clients should consult with their tax professional regarding the appropriate valuation method for their specific circumstances.
What Is Included in the Report
The NFS report generally includes:
- All in-scope securities in the account
- Security description and identifiers
- High, low, and average price information
- Share quantity and calculated position value
- Total value of included positions
Certain assets are not included in the report, such as cash, money market funds, options, foreign currency, and certain hard-to-value securities.
Cost
The Date of Death Valuation service is available for $12.00 per account.
The charge will be assessed to the representative’s compensation.
How to Request a Report
Advisors may request a Date of Death valuation by:
- Calling the ESI Trading team, or
- Emailing: ESITrading@nationallife.com
Our team will submit the request to NFS and provide the completed report once available.
If you have questions about this service, please contact the ESI Trading team at 1-800-344-7437, option 2, option 3.
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