Bengaluru woman found late grandfather’s L&T shares worth ₹1.72 crore, here’s what happened next...

Bengaluru-based Priya Sharma has become an overnight crorepati after discovering her late grandfather's stock investments. How?

Well, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Sharma found her grandfather's 2004 investment in 500 Larsen & Toubro stocks had grown into 4,500 shares worth ₹1.72 crore, as per a Firstpost report.

The nine-fold jump in stock value over the 16-year period made Sharma a crorepati.

Journey To A Crorepati...

A businessman in Mumbai, Sharma's grandfather invested in 500 stocks of L&T and left them untouched. Then, after his death, the assets were forgotten and remained untouched, leaving the stocks to grow in value, the report added.

Later in 2020, when restricted to her home during the pandemic, Sharma began reading through her grandfather's will and stumbled upon the "hidden" shares, now grown to 4,500 due to stock splits and bonus share awards from the company over the years.

Stock splits are undertaken by companies to boost liquidity and effectively double an existing shareholder's stock without changing the original investment value. Bonus shares are awarded to existing shareholders based on the number of shares already in hand at no extra cost.

But there were legal and corporate challenges to claiming the inheritance, the report noted.

The Challenges...

Since her grandfather's assets were in Mumbai, Bengaluru-based Sharma faced issues with accessibility, the report noted. It further said that since her grandfather had passed, the inheritance could also be claimed via probate.

Probate is when a will is verified and accepted in court.

Since she lacked access to the original documents and share certificates, Sharma contacted L&T who asked her to complete a list of "bureaucratic procedures", to deal with which she hired Share Samadhan.

“We came to know that since the number of shares were substantial and client did not have original shares in possession, it was going to be a tough task since company will do multiple verifications. Further probate of will was also required to be done,” Share Samadhan told Firstpost.

She had to provide her know-your-customer (KYC) information and meet L&T's "stringent" requirements — including affidavits, financial surety, surety bond for duplicate shares, and in-person verification, the report said.

It took Sharma a year to gain control of her inheritance, and become a crorepati.