AboutHelen P. O`Planick, EA Expertise I am a tax professional, with experience in individual taxation. I would prefer not to answer questions about non-resident aliens or corporate taxation. Please do not ask me state related questions, unless the state is Pennsylvania. There are 42 taxing states and 42 TOTALLY different sets of state tax law.
Experience I have been preparing tax returns almost all my life. I have been in professional practice for 25 years and I am enrolled to practice before the Internal Revenue Service.
Organizations National Association of Enrolled Agents
Publications I am a prior Money Magazine Tax Test taker and have been quoted extensively in all media including monthly periodicals and books by tax authorities.
Question My dad recently passed away. He owned 15 different stocks that were held in joint in his name and mine (he actually had the original stock certifcates that were all over 20 years old). I had his name removed from the stocks and now they are held in a brokerage account in only my name. What is my cost basis when I sell them?
Answer Unless you are in a community property state, your basis is one half what he paid for them and one half his date of death value.
For example - he bought ABC at $2 a share and the date of death value was $10. Your basis is $6 or 1/2 x $2 and 1/2 X $10.
If you both lived in a community property state, you need to find local advice - community property states all have different laws.
