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For instance: boyfriend invested a lot and managed to secure them (they never devalued as he kept them stable for a while) but one day he passed away, the thing is that he is the main shareholder who owns said corporate entity when he was still alive (so he's the only signatory noted on paper) so what happens then? Most of the legal framework and bureaucracy are all under his name.

It definitely won't his girlfriend who'll taking over as it's not even under her name nor was she delegated that responsibility prior as the title and experience of shareholding is under her boyfriend's name. I mean, shareholders are human beings (corporations are formed by people). In this case, he is the founder of the company that managed to take off financially that succeeded.

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[-] AnchoriteMagus@lemmy.world 14 points 4 days ago

The corporation continues as a separate legal entity. The business assets and liabilities belong to the corporation itself, not its owner. His shares would be passed to his next of kin or, if he didn't have one, would become property of the state and most likely auctioned off.

[-] anomnom@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 days ago

If they were dating for long enough and especially living together for long enough, they might meet requirements for common law marriage and inherit the shares (and control, if they have controlling share quantities).

Unless a will, trust, or the corporation docs say otherwise I guess.

[-] AnchoriteMagus@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago

Depends. Only 7 US states still recognize common law, and some have hefty length of cohabitation requirements.

[-] slazer2au@lemmy.world 10 points 4 days ago

As with any asset, it depends on what the will says and what the estate can do.
The business should also have continuity plans for when people in important positions die.

this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2026
14 points (85.0% liked)

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