How to remove a wife shareholder from a limited company?

[Willapp]

Get her to sign a share transfer form transferring them back to you. Accountant can provide you with this. In reality it's a very straightforward process, but as others have said the trick is how do you approach this with her?

I went through this earlier in the year but we had already separated by that point and things were amicable so it was done without any grief. If you wanted to go down the more subtle (perhaps devious) path then setting up another LTD that you own 100% of and moving your current contract across is possible. In theory you could run down the funds in the old LTD and then just use the new one.

Obviously if you end up getting divorced it doesn't really ringfence any of the assets as they're still yours and therefore also a shared marital asset but that's a different discussion.

[Lance]

Those shares are hers and you can't force her to hand them back to you, no different to she can't force you to hand yours to her.

Unless your shareholder agreement has a clause about what to do in this eventuality.
I don't know anyone who has that sort of written agreement with their spouse so you best get pleading.
You could offer to buy them at market value. Bearing in mind that market value is the sum of the assets in the company (minus any liabilities) as a PSC has very little other value.

If she refuses then setup a new company just for you to contract under. And also keep refusing any dividend payouts from the current company and let the accountancy fees drain the money slowly. Eventually she'll get bored (hopefully) and let you have it.

If you do get a divorce the company will likely be part of a settlement anyway so she's likely to get a chunk of (around half I reckon) anyway.

Good luck.

[chopper]

And this is why the tax wheeze of having your wife as a 50/50 shareholder is just that. I can only imagine that if things haven't been going well lately, to tell her you want her out of the business would probably be a whole box of nails in the coffin.

So lesson 1, don't split the shares 50/50 with the wife purely for tax purposes; lesson 2, don't get married - vastly less expensive for you when you decide to play away.

[northernladuk]

I have noticed you say this a lot. Agree its a valid avenue for him or her to use, but asking it on this site allows the 'many' to learn from some of the answers? what is the point of this forum if it is not to share and answer questions ?
I wonder how many hours you have spent typing the same stock response? Maybe you could have used this time more constructively as you seem to have a lot of knowledge in the contractor market.

Because often it's the best advice. He pays his accountant for professional advice and they will know exactly what to do and what his options are based on a real view of this situation. We don't really have much of a clue and we have no idea of the full picture. Why ask a bunch of strangers when he employs a professional?

If he were asking to learn something about his company and grown in knowledge then maybe fair enough but he wants a quick and dirty answer to get out of what is going to be a very complex situation. A quick call to the accountant, they say do this and that and jobs done.

As you can see from the thread he still hasn't had a full answer giving him all the options available from anyone so would speaking to his accountant not have been the best bet???

[LondonManc]

And this is why the tax wheeze of having your wife as a 50/50 shareholder is just that. I can only imagine that if things haven't been going well lately, to tell her you want her out of the business would probably be a whole box of nails in the coffin.

So lesson 1, don't split the shares 50/50 with the wife purely for tax purposes; lesson 2, don't get married - vastly less expensive for you when you decide to play away.

What a cheery outlook on life you have. Pass the razor blades please.

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

1. Get her to agree to give or sell you shares. Regardless of company value she can sell them for whatever price she likes.

2. Fill out share transfer form, no further action if price below £1k otherwise deal with stamp duty.

3. Update company register and withdraw share certificates, issue new certificate for you.

4. Update company house records next time you file your annual return/confirmation statement.

Step one will probably be the trickiest.

[radish2008]

Oh dear oh dear........

Why don't you ask your bloody accountant? Jesus.

Why don't you just talk to your wife ?

[Lance]

Why don't you just talk to your wife ?

"Nice day at work dear?"
"Mine was not bad."
"Would you like a cup of tea?"
"Oh. By the way. I'm worried that you're planning on dumping me so I want my shares back before you claim half my retained profits."

Good luck with that.

[radish2008]

"Nice day at work dear?"
"Mine was not bad."
"Would you like a cup of tea?"
"Oh. By the way. I'm worried that you're planning on dumping me so I want my shares back before you claim half my retained profits."

Good luck with that.

There could be a conversation before that to head off any split in the first place.

[Semtex]

1. Get her to agree to give or sell you shares. Regardless of company value she can sell them for whatever price she likes.

2. Fill out share transfer form, no further action if price below £1k otherwise deal with stamp duty.

3. Update company register and withdraw share certificates, issue new certificate for you.

4. Update company house records next time you file your annual return/confirmation statement.

Step one will probably be the trickiest.

If the company purchases these back is the cost tax deductable?