What happens to your business when you die, will very much depend on whether or not you’ve got anything in place already. Things that you could have in place are things like the Articles of Association containing things like pre-emption rights, giving other shareholders rights to buy your shares on your death. Alternatively, you could have a shareholder agreement in place, which deals with this whole process, and you may have other succession planning, you may have appointed someone in your company to take over when you die, or when you leave. If you don’t have any of the succession planning in place, and you have model articles, and no shareholder agreement, then your shares in the business will pass on your death in accordance with your Will, or if you’ve not got a Will, in accordance with the intestacy rules.
