In re Estate of Mather

410 Pa. 361, 189 A.2d 586 (1963)

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In re Estate of Mather

Pennsylvania Supreme Court
410 Pa. 361, 189 A.2d 586 (1963)

Facts

The members of a family business, including Gilbert Mather, executed a written agreement that prohibited the sale of the family members’ stock during their lifetimes unless the shares were first offered to the other shareholders at a price of one dollar per share. The agreement also provided that upon the death of a family member, his shares in the corporation had to be offered to the other family members at a price of one dollar per share before they could be sold to an outsider. If no living signatory to the agreement exercised the option, the shares could then be sold on the open market. The express purpose of the agreement was to keep the family business in the Mather family. After Gilbert’s death, a family member (plaintiff) attempted to exercise the option. The executors of the estate of Gilbert Mather (defendants) objected to the agreement as an invalid restraint on alienation of the shares because the value of the stock far exceeded the option price. The trial court held that the agreement was enforceable, and the executors appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Bell, C.J.)

Dissent (Cohen, J.)

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