I den här artikeln diskuteras destinatärernas rättsliga ställning i en stiftelse. Vi utreder begreppet destinatär, gör en kategorisering av destinatärernas rätt utifrån en jämförelse med gåva och avtal samt diskuterar frågan om äganderätt till stiftelseegendomen. Vi kommer fram till att destinatärernas rätt är en rätt sui generis och mot bakgrund av detta diskuteras destinatärernas rättsliga krav mot stiftelsen samt stiftelsens möjlighet till återkrav från destinatären.

Family business owners are dependent on legal advice to control ownership changes and uphold a functional balance between owners. This advice spans both family law and business law. However, family business owners are found to underutilize the legal instruments available, especially for small- and medium-sized enterprises. We explore the market for legal advice provided to family business owners. Our findings describe specific ownership costs that decrease owners’ willingness and ability to contract. This avoidance of ex ante costs puts the owners at risk of extensive ex post costs that could ultimately jeopardize the business.

I denna artikelserie om två delar undersöks om det i svensk rätt finns en princip om rättsmissbruk, vad den närmare innebär, särskilt utifrån ett aktie­bolagsrättsligt perspektiv, och vilka rättsföljder den kan aktualisera. Vidare analyseras förhållandet till lojalitetsplikten. Syftet är ytterst att utreda om det i svensk aktiebolagsrätt finns en allmän rättsprincip inne­bärande ett förbud mot majoritets- respektive minoritetsmissbruk. I denna Del II av artikelserien fokuserar vi på minoritetsmissbruk.

I denna artikelserie om två delar undersöks om det i svensk rätt finns en princip om rättsmissbruk, vad den närmare innebär, särskilt utifrån ett aktie­bolagsrättsligt perspektiv, och vilka rättsföljder den kan aktualisera. Vidare analyseras förhållandet till lojalitetsplikten. Syftet är ytterst att utreda om det i svensk aktiebolagsrätt finns en allmän rättsprincip inne­bärande ett förbud mot majoritets- respektive minoritetsmissbruk. I denna Del II av artikelserien fokuserar vi på minoritetsmissbruk.

When reading modern corporate finance literature, the question: ‘Why concentrated ownership?’, appears to puzzle the authors. The question is upside down; it should instead be: ‘Why dispersed ownership?’. Most private companies are closely held, and within these firms, each shareholder has a high degree of control. It is, therefore, interesting to ask what makes shareholders give away, share, or lose control. In this chapter, we broaden our view on control in private companies discussing legal and practical dimensions of control in private limited companies from a Nordic perspective. Using real life cases, we discuss practical dimensions of control, spanning from formal legal control to informal control, including aspects of psychological ownership.

Abstract

Purpose – This study sheds light on a hitherto understudied group in family business literature: widows. Weexplore the roles a widow may take following the unexpected death of her owner-manager spouse when she hadno salient role in the business prior to the death.

Design/methodology/approach – We used a qualitative approach to research, to study inductively the rolesconsidered and taken by three widows who unexpectedly succeeded as owners of Swedish privately heldfamily firms. We conducted semi-structured interviews with widows and children in top management.

Findings – We construct a typology of four main roles a widow can take and analyse the underlyingdimensions that they represent. We also analyse to which extent the choice of role widow can be explained bypsychological ownership and double-loss theory. The typology can be used as a tool for family business ownersand their advisors as the basis of an open and non-prejudiced discussion of the choices available to a widow.

Originality/value – We have investigated the factors that influence a widow’s decision whether to take overthe business or not, as suggested in previous research by, for example, Martinez et al. (2009). We explore theroles a widow can consider and adopt. The study advances our understanding of how businesses can remain asfamily firms also in the event of the unexpected death of an owner-manager (De Massis et al., 2008). We hereby contribute to the literature on sudden successions and on women in family businesses.

Keywords - Family dynamics, Widow, Sudden succession, Sudden death, Psychological ownership, Doubleloss theory