What Happens to Jointly Owned Stock After a Spouse Dies?

In Florida, selling jointly owned stock is different than selling another jointly owned asset.

If you and your spouse owned the stock jointly and with the right of survivorship, then when your spouse passes away you automatically become the sole owner of said stock. This means that you are free to do whatever you want with it, whether you would prefer to keep, sell or trade it. As far as taxes are concerned, half of the investment’s tax basis is increased when the first spouse passes away. This means that, if you choose to sell the stock, the capital gains or losses on your half of the investment will be based on what the stock was valued at when you first purchased it. Your spouse’s half, however, will be based on the value of the stock at the time that he or she passed.