VestingPoint

The Problem#

• When a tech employee dies, their equity compensation becomes extraordinarily complex to administer — unvested RSUs may accelerate on death, stock options have exercise windows that shorten, ESPP contributions need refunding, and phantom stock may have different death provisions
• Each equity type has different tax treatment: ISO vs NSO options, short-term vs long-term capital gains, AMT implications, and the step-up in basis at death
• The HR department sends the executor a 40-page equity summary PDF; the executor’s attorney has never seen one before
• The exercise window for stock options after death is typically 90 days — miss it and the options expire worthless
• The us-estate extension’s community property rules may mean the surviving spouse owns half the equity automatically, depending on state

How They’d Use INHERIT#

• Employee stock compensation is modelled in asset.json with category: "financial" and subcategories for each type: ISO options, NSOs, RSUs, ESPPs, phantom stock, and SARs
• Each equity grant includes grant date, vesting schedule, exercise price (for options), number of shares, cliff date, and accelerated vesting provisions on death
• valuation.json captures the fair market value at date of death — critical for the step-up in basis calculation
• The us-estate extension handles state-level variation: California community property, Delaware corporate law, and federal estate tax thresholds
• common/tax-position.json models the deceased’s tax residency, AMT status, and treaty positions
• event.json tracks the administration timeline — option exercise deadlines, RSU vesting dates, ESPP refund dates — with trigger: "calendar_deadline" alerts

The Integration#

• Bidirectional: VestingPoint imports INHERIT documents from company HR systems, adds equity-specific valuations and tax calculations, and returns the enriched document to the executor’s attorney
• Automated deadline tracking ensures no option exercise windows are missed
• The structured format means the attorney receives typed, validated data instead of a 40-page PDF

The Business Case#

• Average equity value at risk per case: $2.4 million — option exercise windows, RSU acceleration, and tax elections are all time-sensitive
• VestingPoint charges $15,000 per estate for full equity administration — typically less than 1% of the equity value at stake
• 12 cases per year involve missed deadlines under the current PDF-based process — VestingPoint’s structured tracking eliminates this entirely
• Tax-optimised exercise strategies save an average of $180,000 per estate in unnecessary capital gains tax

Before / After#

Without INHERIT:

1. A software engineer dies with $3.2 million in equity across RSUs, ISOs, and an ESPP
2. HR sends a 40-page PDF summary to the executor; the executor’s attorney has never administered tech equity
3. The attorney takes 6 weeks to understand the document; during that time, the 90-day option exercise window passes
4. $400,000 in stock options expire worthless; the estate pays $85,000 more in tax than necessary due to missed elections

With INHERIT:

1. HR exports the deceased’s equity compensation as structured asset.json entries with vesting schedules, exercise prices, and acceleration terms
2. VestingPoint imports the INHERIT document and generates a deadline-driven action plan
3. Stock options are exercised optimally within 30 days; RSU acceleration is confirmed with the company
4. The estate saves $400,000 in preserved options and $85,000 in tax — total benefit: $485,000