To transfer a physical stock certificate to another person, endorse the back of the certificate (or sign a separate stock power form), have your signature stamped with a Medallion Signature Guarantee from a qualifying bank or brokerage, and mail the paperwork to the company’s transfer agent. The transfer agent cancels the old certificate, issues a new one in the recipient’s name, and updates the shareholder ledger. Two to four weeks is a realistic timeline if everything is in order.
Find the Transfer Agent First
The transfer agent, not the company whose name appears on the certificate, does the actual work of changing ownership. Transfer agents maintain the issuer’s shareholder records, cancel and issue certificates, and process dividends.1U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Transfer Agents A few companies act as their own transfer agent, but most hire a bank or trust company for the job.2Investor.gov. Transfer Agents
If you don’t know who the transfer agent is, check the company’s investor relations page, call its corporate secretary, or look up the most recent annual report on the SEC’s EDGAR system. Contact the agent before you sign anything. They’ll tell you which of their own forms they require, what the current fees are, and where to send the package.
Endorse the Certificate or Use a Stock Power
You have two ways to authorize the transfer. You can sign the back of the certificate itself, or you can leave the certificate unsigned and sign a separate stock power form instead. Most people use the stock power because a signed certificate is a negotiable instrument, effectively the same as cash if it gets lost or stolen in the mail. The stock power keeps the endorsement on a separate document.
Whichever you use, sign exactly as your name appears on the front of the certificate. Small differences can cause a rejection. If the front reads “John Q. Public” and you sign “John Public,” the transfer agent may send everything back.
Get a Medallion Signature Guarantee
This is the step that trips up most people. A Medallion Signature Guarantee is not a notarization. A notary verifies your identity; a Medallion guarantor warrants that your signature is genuine and that you have the authority to transfer the shares, and takes on financial liability if the signature turns out to be forged.3Investor.gov. Medallion Signature Guarantees: Preventing the Unauthorized Transfer of Securities SEC rules require transfer agents to set written standards for accepting guarantees, and most only accept them from institutions participating in an approved Medallion program.4eCFR. 17 CFR 240.17Ad-15 – Signature Guarantees
Three Medallion programs exist: the Securities Transfer Agents Medallion Program (STAMP), the Stock Exchanges Medallion Program (SEMP), and the New York Stock Exchange Medallion Signature Program (MSP).3Investor.gov. Medallion Signature Guarantees: Preventing the Unauthorized Transfer of Securities Each participating institution has a bonding limit that caps the dollar value of transfers it can guarantee. If your shares are worth more than that limit, you’ll need a bigger institution.
Start with a bank or brokerage where you already hold an account. Many institutions only provide Medallion guarantees to existing customers, and some require you to have held the account for a minimum period. Credit unions in one of the programs can also issue guarantees. Walk-in requests from strangers are usually declined. If you’re turned down, ask the transfer agent for a list of institutions whose guarantees it will accept.
Mail the Package and Wait
Send the certificate, the Medallion-guaranteed stock power (or the endorsed certificate itself), and any forms the transfer agent requires. Use registered or certified mail with return receipt requested. A signed certificate in transit is negotiable, so treat the envelope the way you would treat cash.
Once the transfer agent receives and verifies the package, it cancels the old certificate, issues a new one in the recipient’s name, and updates the shareholder ledger. Under the Uniform Commercial Code, an issuer that receives a properly endorsed certificate with adequate assurance of genuineness is obligated to register the transfer.5Legal Information Institute. Uniform Commercial Code 8-401 – Duty of Issuer to Register Transfer Processing typically takes two to four weeks. Delays usually trace to incomplete paperwork or signature mismatches.
If You Just Want Electronic Shares Instead
If the goal is to get rid of the paper rather than change ownership, you’re doing something different: dematerialization. This converts the certificate into electronic book-entry shares held in a brokerage account. Electronic shares are immediately tradable and can’t be lost in a fire.
The process differs from an ownership transfer in one important way: do not endorse the certificate. Leave the signature area on the back blank. Contact your brokerage first, open or use an existing account in the exact name shown on the certificate, and follow the brokerage’s Letter of Transmittal instructions. Mail the unendorsed certificate and forms via registered or certified mail.
If the name on the certificate doesn’t match the name on your brokerage account, because of marriage or another name change, you’ll usually need to complete a transfer-of-ownership step first. The brokerage forwards the certificate to the transfer agent or the Depository Trust Company for cancellation and electronic crediting.6The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation. FAQs: How Issuers Work with DTC Conversion typically takes two to six weeks.
Tax Consequences of Gifting Shares
Transferring shares to another living person is a gift in the eyes of the IRS, and the tax rules follow the shares to the recipient.
The Recipient Inherits Your Cost Basis
The person receiving your gifted shares takes your original cost basis, meaning the price you paid.7Internal Revenue Service. Property (Basis, Sale of Home, etc.) If you bought 100 shares at $10 and gift them when they’re worth $50, the recipient’s basis for calculating a future gain is still $10 per share. This is called carryover basis.8eCFR. 26 CFR 1.1015-1 – Basis of Property Acquired by Gift
If the shares are worth less than your basis on the date of the gift, the rules split. The recipient uses the lower fair market value to calculate a future loss, but your original basis to calculate a future gain. Depending on the sale price, that can produce neither a reportable gain nor a deductible loss.7Internal Revenue Service. Property (Basis, Sale of Home, etc.)
Form 709 If the Gift Is Large
If the value of shares you gift to any one person in a calendar year exceeds $19,000 (the 2026 annual exclusion), you must file IRS Form 709.9Internal Revenue Service. Gifts and Inheritances Married couples can split a gift, effectively doubling the exclusion to $38,000 per recipient.10Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709 Filing the return doesn’t mean you owe gift tax. It counts the excess against your lifetime exemption.
Inherited and Transfer-on-Death Shares Follow a Different Path
If the current owner has died, don’t use the gift-transfer process above. The mechanics and the tax treatment are different.
If the deceased registered the shares with a Transfer on Death (TOD) beneficiary, the shares pass directly to the named beneficiary without probate. The beneficiary sends the transfer agent a certified copy of the death certificate and an application for re-registration.11Investor.gov. Transferring Assets Without a TOD designation, the shares become part of the estate, and the transfer agent will require court-issued letters testamentary (or letters of administration if there was no will) along with a certified death certificate before it will re-register the shares.
On the tax side, inherited shares receive a stepped-up basis equal to the fair market value on the date of death, regardless of what the deceased paid.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1014 – Basis of Property Acquired from a Decedent That step-up can wipe out decades of unrealized gain and is worth weighing before deciding to gift highly appreciated shares during your lifetime instead of letting them pass through your estate.