Corporation Restructuring

A stock certificate represents a shareholder's ownership interest in a corporation. Most states do not require a corporation to issue a paper stock certificate -- that is, the corporation's board can authorize issuance of shares without the need for certificates.

Contact your stockbroker to search the stock's worth via its CUSIP number if the steps given earlier yield no results. This number is printed on the back of the stock certificate. Use a fee-based service to search your stock's history if the earlier steps come up empty. Fees can range from $40 to $85 or more.

A stock certificate is a physical piece of paper that represents a shareholder's ownership in a company. Stock certificates include information such as the number of shares owned, the date of purchase, an identification number, usually a corporate seal, and signatures.

Stock Certificates Are No Longer Necessary Today, most of the world's exchanges have either done away with or are phasing out paper certificates. Stock ownership is much easier to prove now thanks to electronic records and electronic communication networks (ECN).

Open the free PDF file you will receive by email. Start inserting the State of formation, name of the company, number of shares, par value and class. You can insert a clause and the text will resize depending on the number of characters you insert. Insert the signature titles.

Old stock certificates shouldn't be simply thrown away. They can still have value if they represent an existing or merged company, or if they are valued as collectibles. A little bit of research can help you determine the worth, if any, of your old paper stock certificate.

If you can track down the issuing company and get its CUSIP number, you can reach out to a transfer agent, complete a transfer form and place a sell order to cash in your old stock certificate. Otherwise, you could simply keep the certificate if the company no longer exists.

To fill out a stock certificate, you fill in the name of the shareholder, the name of the corporation, the number of shares represented by the certificate, the date, and possibly an identification number.

Depending on which state you form your corporation in, you may need to issue stock. Some states require corporations to issue stock, while others make it optional. Before filing Articles of Incorporation, you should spend time researching whether the board of directors will need to issue stock.