If the articles contain no succession clause and a major shareholder has already died, can we add one now?
It is difficult. Amending the articles requires approval by shareholders representing more than two-thirds of the voting rights, yet the deceased shareholder’s equity is in a state of pending inheritance, and how their voting rights are exercised is disputed. A post-hoc amendment also risks being challenged as targeting a specific estate. The window for putting a succession clause in place is during one’s lifetime—which is the point of this article’s title.
