Company refuses to transfer shares of late husband
My husband was the majority shareholder of a company in Arusha and died early last year. In his Will, I was the executor and beneficiary. After a few months, I managed to get probate from the High Court in Arusha. I used that to transfer his shares into my name, as per the Will. However, the company is refusing to accept the transfer, claiming they were not informed of this. What should I do?
27 February 2012
We have greatly truncated the length of the actual question you sent us. All of your revolving thoughts, some of which were quite impressive, are not necessary here. Legally, your matter is quite straightforward.
The Companies Act states, very clearly that, so long as a person can produce documents that prove, to a standard required by law, that probate has been granted to that person, this amounts to sufficient evidence of such a grant or undertaking. The Companies Act gives you full protection.
You have not stated the grounds that the other shareholders, and/or directors, are refusing to transfer the shares. We do not see them having any justifiable reservations, especially when these shares have been inherited by you under your husband’s Will. If this behaviour continues, your attorney can consider taking the matter to Court, in order to compel the other shareholders to recognise your shareholding. Meanwhile, there might be major pilfering going on within the company. For this reason, you might not want to prolong this situation any further.