Separating legal and equitable ownership, results in a very powerful mechanism to help you to avoid probate.

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Moreover, as a 1994 study by John Dunlop, a former labour secretary, observed, even the most equitable share-ownership schemes will flounder if workers feel they still have no say in how their firm is run.

ECONOMIST: Employee ownership

Almost a century later Equitable switched back to stock ownership and was bought by AXA (nyse: AXA - news - people ).

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