Assets held by a company are not capable of being left by Will. A Will is effective to bequest the shares in the company only. A beneficiary of those shares inherits with them all of the rights of a shareholder in the company including the right to appoint company directors to run the company. A Will is ineffective to direct decisions of a company Board.
To ensure that a company acts in a certain way after the death of a shareholder, the Board of the company must take steps to implement those wishes (if the steps are possible under the company’s constitution) before the shareholder dies. Assets dealt with in this fashion do not secure the benefits of a testamentary trust, CGT rollover relief or stamp duty exemptions. |
