Spousal Consent

A spousal consent is a document signed by the spouse of a member in a limited liability company that has an operating agreement amongst the members or a shareholder in a corporation that has a shareholders agreement amongst the shareholders. The spousal consent is usually attached as an exhibit to the end of the agreement, and the documents usually states something to the effect of the spouse has read the agreement in full and agrees that the spouse does not claim any ownership interest in the company and waives any later arguments to such an ownership interest. The purpose of the spousal consent is to ensure the company – and, in particular, all of the owners in the company – that one of their spouses does not later claim to be an owner in the company, thus jeopardizing the ownership structure in the company and potentially introducing an unwanted owner into the company. This document is important regardless of the location of the company, but may be of particular importance in states that follow community property laws. In those states, any property received by either spouse after marriage is considered to be property of both spouses. Stock in a corporation or an ownership interest in an LLC is included in the definition of property.