Investing - Theory, News & General • Re: Brokerages - how does Step-Up work after death

I have gone through this a couple of times. The brokerage will create a new account for the new owner. When they transfer the shares to the new account, the cost basis will just be reset. The gains just disappear.

If it's a joint account and one owner dies (in illinois, for example), then half of the shares get the new basis and half keep the original. At Vanguard I even had 100.5 shares of a stock at the original basis and 100.5 shares at the new basis.

I was surprised how simple it was at Vanguard. There is nothing to keep track of. Basis just resets to the most recent price.

Statistics: Posted by magua — Thu Sep 03, 2026 2:47 pm