Gap and Analogy in the Legal Regulation of the Posthumous Allocation of the Spousal Share in the Right to a Share in the Charter Capital of a Limited Liability Company

This study addresses the contradicting judicial approaches to admitting the surviving spouse of a deceased member into a limited liability company (OOO), where such admission is claimed either on the basis of the spouse’s marital share in the deceased’s interest in the charter capital or through inheritance. The author supports and further elaborates on the position of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation that upheld an analogy between the posthumous conversion of a share in joint marital property into separate property and succession by inheritance. Such an analogy substantiates the general rule that a surviving spouse may be admitted to the OOO on par with heirs, notwithstanding objections from other members. The paper further proposes that analogy serve not merely as a casespecific gapfilling mechanism, but as a tool for legislative refinement. To this end, the author recommends amending the Federal Law “On Limited Liability Companies” to provide default rules governing the acquisition of corporate rights by surviving spouses, applicable in the absence of a specific procedure in the company’s charter.