What is a shareholder?

A shareholder, also referred to as a stockholder, is a person, company, or institution that owns stock(s) in a company, known as equity. A shareholder must own a minimum of one share in a company’s stock to make them a partial owner.

What is a shareholder agreement?

A shareholder agreement is an arrangement between all the company's shareholders on how they will own and manage the company business. It outlines the rights, obligations, and responsibilities of the shareholders and is intended to ensure that shareholders rights are protected. A shareholder agreement also ensures that the shareholders are treated fairly.

What are shareholder rights?

Shareholder rights refer to the rights that shareholders possess as a result of owning shares in a company. The most common shareholder rights include voting power, ownership, the right to transfer ownership, dividends, the right to inspect corporate documents, and the right to sue for wrongful acts.

What should a shareholder agreement include?

A shareholder agreement generally includes provisions governing issuing and transferring shares, running the company including the appointment and removal of directors, voting rights, dividend distribution, and dispute resolution procedures.

Shareholder Agreement

A shareholder agreement describes how the company should be operated and outlines shareholders' rights and obligations.

It includes provisions to safeguard the company owners and their interests. Use our shareholder agreement to create an arrangement between a company's shareholders that clearly defines their ownership rights and obligations.

Get Started

How to
Help Guide
FAQS

When should I use a shareholder agreement?

When a company is formed
When shares are issued to a new shareholder
When a shareholder sells or intends to sell their shares
When the company business model changes

Create your document in 3 steps

Complete the form

Preview your document

Download and print

Step-by-step guidance to help you determine the options you need

Throughout the form, we explain all the terms and guide you on making the best choices for your shareholder agreement.

Shareholder Agreement

Outlines shareholders' rights and obligations and describes how the company should be operated.

Create Document

LLC Operating Agreement

Specifies the regulations for a company's operations and defines the company's purpose.

Create Document

What Our Customers Are Saying

Complete your shareholder agreement in 6 steps

Gather Information

Gather all the relevant information to complete your document. This may include shareholder names, addresses, and stock ownership. You will also need dividend distribution preferences and company officer details.

Answer Key Questions

Use the information you collected to complete the agreement. We make this easy by guiding you each step of the way and helping you to customize your document to match your specific needs. The questions and information we present to you dynamically change depending on your answers.

Review and Sign

It is always important to read your document thoroughly to ensure it matches your needs and is free of errors and omissions.

When signing the document, be sure to follow any additional instructions related to signing and witnessing the document. Any such instructions will either be located next to the signature line or in the instructions attached at the end of the document.

If a notary or other witness is required, you must wait to sign the document until they are present.

Distribute and Store Copies

At a minimum, all parties that sign the document should receive a copy once it is fully executed (everyone has signed). Other interested parties may need or want copies as well. Be sure that you store your copy in your corporate records. It is a good idea to keep both a physical and electronic copy.

Periodically Review and Update

It is easy to forget the ins and outs of your shareholder agreement. Periodically reviewing it will help you stay familiar with any responsibilities or requirements so that you can determine when it needs changes or additions. As your policies change or new laws pass, you will need to update your agreement.

Complete Related Documents

Completing documents such as corporate bylaws and meeting minutes will offer additional protection, as both are required for corporations in most states.

Get Started