Inheritance

In the event of the death of a direct registered Shareholder, please send us as soon as possible by our page "Contact us" > “Inheritance” > “Declaring a inheritance”section:

• A copy of the death certificate;
• The contact details of the notary or attorney responsible for managing the inheritance.

We will then contact the notary or attorney to provide a position of the account(s) at the date of death. Once the notary or attorney has collected all the information relating to the estate of the deceased, they will process the inheritance and send us:

• A statement including the matrimonial property regime of the deceased, the names of the beneficial owners and the number of securities that should be attributed or sold to them;
• A copy of the inheritance declaration form to revalue the securities.

Air Liquide Shareholder Services Department will then execute the instructions provided by the notary or attorney or by the agent responsible for the inheritance.

For intermediary registered Shareholders or bearer Shareholders, the financial institution remains the point of contact.

This means that you have become the co-owner of a collective securities account on which no transactions can be carried out without the authorization of all co-owners.

This means that you have become the owner of an inter-vivos trust account, either as a beneficial owner or as a bare owner:

• the beneficial owner has the right to receive dividends, vote and take part in Annual General Meetings,
• the bare owner has the right to sell securities with the consent of the beneficial owner and receive the proceeds from their sale.

The beneficial owner and the bare owner thus have, for the same securities account, distinct rights. Upon the death of the beneficial owner, the bare owner acquires full-ownership of the portfolio without any inheritance tax.

Processing time depends on how quickly the notary or attorney sends the required information.

For direct registered Shareholders, once this information has been received, Shareholder Services shall process the attorney’s instructions within an average time frame of 15 days.