piercing the corporate veil

piercing the corporate veil

A theory used to reach the assets of individual shareholders when there is a judgment against a corporation but the corporation has no assets to satisfy the judgment. In general, if the shareholders operated a business in complete disregard of the corporate form,meaning they never had shareholder meetings,never voted on anything,never used the corporate name on stationary or paperwork, commingled personal funds and corporate funds, and generally behaved as if the corporation did not exist, then a court will impose personal liability for corporate debts.