My dad recently went through their safe deposit box and found a paper certificate for 4 shares in Northern States Power Company, issued in 1988. In 1998, NSP and New Century Energies of Denver merged to create Xcel Energy.
Before the merger, the company provided an annual dividend to shareholders. I don't know whether we ever received these, or if we were receiving them at one point and an address possibly never got updated when we moved.
This was purchased when I was a child, so the document lists my dad as the custodian for me, though I don't know whose SSN was used. Specifically, the name on the certificate is:
< Dad's name > CUST < My name >
UNIF GIFT MIN ACT WISC
I assume the second line refers to the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act, in Wisconsin.
I have a few questions:
- How do I go about determining the value of this stock?
- How do I go about either selling this stock or transferring it to my existing portfolio? Will I have to go through any extra steps since I was a minor at the time of purchase?
- Will I be due the missing dividends somehow, or is it likely a lost cause?
If you think it better to split some of these questions off into separate posts, please let me know and I will do so.