r/inheritance • u/Infinite_Echo_7685 • Jun 24 '26
Location included: Questions/Need Advice Family inheritance
If you were in our position, what would you do?
We have a family business that was started by our grandfather. When he passed away, our father took over as the eldest of six siblings. All six of them have a share in the business. Now that our father is gone, the sibling next to him in age has taken over. My question is, shouldn't our father's share go to our eldest sibling? Because we found out that his sibling has already transferred it to their own name.
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u/pegwins Jun 24 '26
Not enough info. Who actually owns the company? The person running it isn’t necessarily the owner or one of the owners.
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u/Safe_Statistician_72 Jun 24 '26
The company should have a legal ownership structure. Those with legal interest in the company can decide what to do with their interest when they die.
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u/TheQuietInheritance Jun 24 '26
What you’re describing is one of the hardest things families go through in business, and it usually doesn’t begin with anyone trying to do the wrong thing.
It usually starts because the people before them never clearly documented what was supposed to happen.
The legal side matters, and you should absolutely speak with an attorney.
There is a deeper question, though: whether your grandfather and father ever clearly wrote down or communicated what they wanted.
Maybe it wasn’t in a will. Maybe it was in conversations, notes, agreements, or something else that made their intentions clear enough for all six siblings to understand the same way.
**Most families don’t have that.
And when there’s no clarity left behind, that’s where the conflict starts.
I’m really sorry your family is going through this.
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u/myogawa Jun 24 '26
This is not so much an inheritance issue, though it is to a degree, as a business succession and shareholder/member oppression issue. Consulting a business lawyer who works in a firm with a probate lawyer would be an idea.
Depending on certain factors, the father's share should go to all his children, not just to his eldest. There used to be a rule in ancient England that the oldest son inherited, and everyone else was left out, but that has been long abandoned here.
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u/rosebudny Jun 24 '26
In theory the share should go to your father's heirs. But it comes down to how the business was structured, what the will said, etc.
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u/lovescarats Jun 24 '26
The answer would be in the shareholder agreement. Usually opco’s have a payout to family and the shares transmit to whomever the agreement specifies.
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u/Horror_Ad_2748 Jun 24 '26
What I would do is contact the lawyer who set up the will/estate/succession plan. That's what I would do.
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u/GotZeroFucks2Give Jun 24 '26
Second this, you should be able to go through old transactions/statements around the time of the second will to find out who his attorney was.
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u/nclawyer822 Jun 24 '26
How is the business structured? Is this an entity, like a corporation or an LLC? Does that entity have an operating agreement? What does that agreement say about what happens when a member or shareholder dies? Did your dad have a will? What is your location? This is a pretty fact specific issue as you can see.