No Shareholder Agreement? Your Partner's Widow Owns Half the Company, with Karol Pawlina

Your business partner dies on a Tuesday. By Friday, your new business partner is their grieving spouse — someone who has never set foot in the building. If there's no shareholder agreement, that's not a horror story. That's just what the law does.In this episode, Martin and Greg sit down with Karol Pawlina, Barrister & Solicitor at Pawlina Law — a corporate lawyer who sets up and unwinds these agreements for a living — to walk through what actually happens when a partner dies, leaves, or wants out and there's nothing in writing.What we cover:Why roughly a third of the multi-shareholder businesses Karol sets up still skip the agreementWhat legally fills the gap when there isn't one: negotiation, court, or a spouse voting your sharesThe shotgun clause explained — and where it breaks down when the partners aren't equally wealthyWhat a real business valuation costs, and the cheaper annual-table alternative you can write into the agreementIndividual buyout vs. corporate share redemption, and why the tax treatment is differentWhat a Section 85 rollover is and when you need oneWhy ChatGPT-drafted shareholder agreements keep landing on Karol's desk — and cost more to fix than to redoHow a divorce can pull your business into a stranger's property settlementYou have a partner and no agreement. What do you do this month?This is the drafting side. Ep 2 with Ben Corriveau covers the other half — how the buyout actually gets funded.If you're in business with a partner and you've never signed a shareholder agreement, this one is worth your time before you need it.