My father passed away in June 2016. He had stock in his name only with no POD named. What a RITA to get it in my mom's name.

Anyway that is finally done and the stock was sold in November. Dividends were not reinvested so my parents would get monthly checks till my dad's passing. So mom did not get dividends since June of 2016. Almost a year and a half.

They had 772 shares of Manulife. If I read this right the company paid about $0.20 a quarter in 2017.
https://www.streetinsider.com/dividend_history.php?q=MFC

Just one quarter would be $154 if I am doing my math correctly but she only received a check for $105. It is a Canadian company, so I don't know if the dividends are listed in Canadian dollars it still does not add up.

I am going to call them on Tuesday but just thought someone could provide me with a clue of what might be going on and if I am doing my math right.

 

Go here and put MFC in as the symbol.

Note the last dividend as .205

Go back and put in MFC:NYSE

Note the last dividend is: 0.205 CAD

Thus, as you suspected, the rate is in Canadian dollars...and of course there is probably a small rip-off conversion fee....Doing the conversion is going to depend on the rate at the time the dividend is posted. The exchange rate can swing from .70 to ~1.0. If it were close to .7 than the 154/105 is close if including a bit for an exchange transfer (if one exists) or something else. But, all of these charges should easily be available when you talk with them. Good Luck.

 

Go here and put MFC in as the symbol.

Note the last dividend as .205

Go back and put in MFC:NYSE

Note the last dividend is: 0.205 CAD

Thus, as you suspected, the rate is in Canadian dollars...and of course there is probably a small rip-off conversion fee....Doing the conversion is going to depend on the rate at the time the dividend is posted. The exchange rate can swing from .70 to ~1.0. If it were close to .7 than the 154/105 is close if including a bit for an exchange transfer (if one exists) or something else. But, all of these charges should easily be available when you talk with them. Good Luck.

So long story short, she should have received more than $105 in back dividends, if she did not get a check for 1.5 years? 105 might be about right for a quarter but 1.5 years?

 

My sympathies. Terrible to lose a parent.

You should contact investor relations at the company if the stock was in his name. If it was held by a brokerage, talk to them. You actually get more leverage with a brokerage, BTW. The IR folks want to keep them happy. But any way, they exist to serve you. I expect you will get a good response.

Have you done an unclaimed property search? Checks that don't get cashed sometimes wind up there. Bank accounts, too. It may take a while for everything to show up so check it once a quarter or so. When my dad died, it took years to find a couple of things including a CD for a serious amount of money 6 years later.

It's bad enough when someone dies but the lingering trail of crap like that stuff just drags it on forever.

 

So long story short, she should have received more than $105 in back dividends, if she did not get a check for 1.5 years? 105 might be about right for a quarter but 1.5 years?

If you go to the site I linked, you can build the chart to show an icon when dividends were paid. I count 6 dividends paid since Jun2016 to present - 0.185, 0.185, 0.205, 0.205, 0.205, 0.205 per share in CAD (as I explained)

If no dividend checks were issued to your Mom (who inherited the stock) during the time she owned it (and as you said, there was no DRIP), I would certainly think that she is owed those funds. Granted, I have no particular expertise in the area, but what other conclusion could be reached? The stock, along with their dividends is part of your Dad's estate.

So, what happened to the dividend checks? The broker should know and have a record. Again, I don't know, but if they were going to your Dad's account, that account may have been closed upon his death and no additional provisions were in place at the time and none were made. You would think that upon legal transfer of the stock to your Mom, the provisions would have been made at that time, but apparently not.

I think that you can and will get this straightened out, but you are probably going to need to be patient and be armed with all the relevant information (old account number, legal transfer of ownership, etc..). Getting the broker house to cooperate may not be so difficult as they probably have dealt with this before.

 

Did you get this resolved?

 

Yes she got another check. The only issue was she paid Canadian tax and I think that there is no tax for US citizens if you complete a form. She did and we sent ti in.

I am going to let that one go. Not worth the battle.

 

Yes she got another check. The only issue was she paid Canadian tax and I think that there is no tax for US citizens if you complete a form. She did and we sent ti in.

I am going to let that one go. Not worth the battle.

good deal

 

... I think that there is no tax for US citizens if you complete a form.

That would surprise me. The U.S. is know as the only country to tax it’s citizens abroad for foreign income. Maybe Canada is an exception.

 

That would surprise me. The U.S. is know as the only country to tax it’s citizens abroad for foreign income. Maybe Canada is an exception.

You are not immune from the US tax. Just the tax Canada charges.

 

Canada can tax for foreign income, including foreign pension income etc.
Max.

 

That would surprise me. The U.S. is know as the only country to tax it’s citizens abroad for foreign income. Maybe Canada is an exception.

I think the U.S. is the only "major" country to tax it's citizens and legal residents on worldwide income no matter where they actually live, but there are a few other minor countries that do so (including Libya and North Korea -- gee, what a group to be a part of). But the most common form of taxation taxes all residents (typically those that reside in the country for more than 183 days a year) on worldwide income (and this includes Canada). However, many countries that tax worldwide income, including the U.S., have provisions to significantly dampen it for most people. For instance, the U.S. allows people to exclude over $100k of foreign earned income from U.S. federal income taxes (but this doesn't apply to things like dividend income). Many countries also have provisions that allow you to take at least partial credit for taxes paid to a foreign country, which might be what that form spinnaker is referring to is all about.

 

No the way I understand it is US citizens do not pay Canadian income tax if proper forms are completed. That does not mean the US won't tax you on the same income, because they will.

 

Yes she got another check. The only issue was she paid Canadian tax and I think that there is no tax for US citizens if you complete a form. She did and we sent ti in.

I am going to let that one go. Not worth the battle.

Actually, the tax thing is standard. You can claim foreign taxes paid on your US tax return and get it back. I think even the simple SW tax prep programs can do that and any accountant with 1/10th a brain knows how to do it.