Hello, My former spouse transferred some stocks when we divorced. Do you know how to file them? or if I have to pay taxes? I know he traded some shares for taxe purpose.

[MinhT1]

Property received in a divorce settlement is not taxable.

For stocks, you only have to report capital gains/losses when you sell them.

[Mike9241]

get the spouse's tax basis in those stocks 

Basis of property received. Your basis in property received from your spouse (or former spouse, if incident to your divorce) is the same as your spouse’s adjusted basis. This applies for determining either gain or loss when you later dispose of the property. It applies whether the property’s adjusted basis is less than, equal to, or greater than either its value at the time of the transfer or any consideration you paid. It also applies even if the property’s liabilities are more than its adjusted basis.

This rule generally applies to all property received after July 18, 1984, under a divorce or separation instrument in effect after that date. It also applies to all other property received after 1983 for which you and your spouse (or former spouse) made a “section 1041 election” to apply this rule. For information about how to make that election, see Temporary Regulations section 1.1041-1T(g).

[Opus 17]

The transfer itself is not taxable or reported.  However, you need to know the cost basis of the stocks, because that will determine your capital gains when you sell them.  Cost basis is generally what your spouse paid for the stocks when they bought them, but it might be adjusted due to mergers, stock splits, and other activities.   You may be able to get the basis from the stock broker, if you can provide details of the transfer, such as your spouse's account number.  If the stocks were transferred from your spouse's account to your account within the same broker, the broker may have also kept track of the basis for you, but I suggest calling them to verify this.  

If your spouse sold stocks to purchase other stocks, the gain or loss would be reported on your spouse's tax return and you don't have to worry about that.

[vane410859]

Thank you all so much for your answers! this is crystal clear now!