Ask an Expert
When spouse passes away, do their shares transfer to surviving spouse?
Expert: Tony Frost
Emily asked:
My husband passed away, we owned our own small corporate business, our shares are 50/50, do I inherit my husbands shares in the company, as the surviving spouse?
Tony Frost answered:
If there is a will, it would than dictate how the assets of the deceased are to be distributed, including his 50 per cent shares in the company.
If there is no will, the rules of intestacy apply and this will require some more information about the family and some more in depth legal analysis. The surviving spouse should also be thinking about the corporate requirements of any Shareholder Agreement and the ongoing management of the company by the present directors and officers.
About the author
Tony Frost is a litigation, commercial and estate lawyer with Mills & Mills LLP located at Yonge and St. Clair in Toronto. Click here for Tony's Profile.