How to Donate Stock to Charity

Call a certified pubic accountant or a tax professional to determine how the donation will affect your taxes. In general, it is better to donate stock that has appreciated in value rather than stock that has lost value.
Look up the name of the charity at the IRS website (See Resources) to ensure that they are a 503c certified organization or a religious organization, which are the only ones that you can obtain a tax deduction for. You can donate to unapproved charities, but you will receive no tax benefits.
Call the charitable organization that you want to donate to and ask them the name and account number for their brokerage account. Not all charities have brokerage accounts set up, in which case they must establish one or you cannot donate your stock to them.
Contact your brokerage account and provide them with the transfer information you obtained from the charitable organization. Tell the broker how much of the stock you wish to donate and the date you want it transferred on.
Print out a copy of the stock transfer transaction and place it in your files for tax purposes. In addition, ask the charity to provide you with a receipt as soon as it receives the funds.

How to Sell the Stock Certificates of Deceased Persons

Determine whether you have legally inherited the stock certificates. If the stock certificates were granted to you by will, you will have to wait for the probate court to process the will. The probate process may take several months to more than a year. If the stock certificates were granted via a trust, the trustee of the trust will send the certificates to you, usually fairly soon after the death. Just as with probate, if the certificates pass to you by intestate succession, it will take many months or years to receive the certificates.
Review the stock certificates to determine if they need to be re-titled in your name. If the certificates contain language requiring re-titling, follow the instructions on the certificate. This often involves sending the certificate to the company with a copy of the estate document transferring the stock.
Contact a stockbroker or brokerage company to sell the stock. Make sure the certificates can be sold and that there is a market for the stock. Stock certificates in the electronic age are uncommon, and certificates are often only used for private and small companies. This sort of stock is often difficult to sell. Send the stock certificates to the stockbroker or company. If the certificates were not re-titled in your name, also transmit the estate document that transferred the stock to you.
Instruct the broker to sell your stock. The stock will usually be converted to electronic shares and sold the next trading day on the stock market.