Latest News From Legacy Project

As a young Nebraska farmer, Maggie Holub is in a league of her own. She has a complete, but flexible, succession plan — in writing.

You’ve heard the horror stories. The ones about farm families who spend months in court fighting over assets. The result? A destroyed business and fractured family. Why does this situation play out over and over?

You’ve heard the horror stories. The ones about farm families who spend months in court fighting over assets. The result? A destroyed business and fractured family. Why does this situation play out over and over?

Use weekly leadership meetings to set priorities and focus on goals.

Succession planning is difficult and time-consuming, but it is also a key step for a business that can grow into the future. Regardless of where you are in the process, you can always take another step.

One of the most overlooked and misunderstood tax laws — available to married farming couples — is an opportunity called portability.

To improve productivity in your operation and reduce stress in your family business, set these helpful ground rules. 

You are likely making plans for seasonal help. If that team includes children or grandchildren, you might want to consider setting up a custodial Roth Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) for them.

There is no precise model when slicing the estate pie. Attorney Polly Dobbs and CPA Paul Neiffer will dissect these complex decisions.

Common goals, trust and open communication feed Pennsylvania operation

Move your succession plan forward with collaborative experts.

When a farmer passes an operation to the next generation, the inheritance can be fair, but it is rarely equal.

Estate planning is important for all families and business owners, but it is crucial for farm families.

Here's how you can avoid committing these harmony-harming mistakes.

Define family employment requirements for your operation

Agriculture is an ancient activity bound by tradition and habit, but today farming doesn’t mean doing things the way they’ve always been done. It means adapting to change and taking advantage of new technologies.

Enjoy this look of the farmers we met this year. You’ll probably find an idea or two to adopt as we look toward 2022.

How can you get back on track with your succession plan? Focus on a contingency plan, a cash-flow plan and communication plan.

Understand and weigh your operation’s options.

Leaders thrive with structure, good communication and clarity regarding the future.

Even though the transfer tax might not happen, it is likely we will see major changes in gift taxes.

As Carroll Family Farms evolved in the past decade, the family knew they must prioritize transition planning, says John Carroll, a farm partner.

This week Paul Neiffer has a conversation with Tim Richter and Jackson Dohlman, partners in Saratoga Partnership.

It’s time. You need to finally make your farm’s succession plan a priority. As you take a first or second or 20th step in the process, shoot to avoid some common landmines.

The American Families Plan provides direct and indirect benefits to families. It also raises a lot of key questions for farmers and their succession plans.

Matt Splitter leads the charge and change to carry forward a legacy.

Learn how to start the conversation, clarify expectations (both yours and theirs) and set healthy boundaries for your heirs within your farm’s transition plan.

CPA Paul Neiffer and attorney Adam Kline will provide an overview of the new rules and provide case study examples of the decisions farmers could face

Use entities to avoid succession disasters.

Honor the past and keep family memories for the future.

Your farm’s future path might be winding and complex but starting the process can be simple.

Succession planning is not linear — many activities go on simultaneously. As with any complex activity, more clarity will help keep things moving forward.

The outcome of the presidential election could have major ramifications for taxes.

“Any money saved by not paying a lawyer to draft a will and succession plan, will be outweighed by the expenses associated with a family feud.”

Seek help in having dicey conversations about complicated issues

“We often take for granted people will understand what to do with information. This is typically not the case.”

Written and shared goals for the family and farm are vital in the succession planning process.

My clients frequently ask: “What happens to the farm if my kids get divorced?” Once we dig into the contingencies of divorces, most folks want to work in more layers of protection. 

Meet and exchange ideas with other families who are also in the process of succession planning at the Farm Journal Legacy Conference.

Father-son duos take charge of their transition timelines.

Estate planning is complicated, and for farmers that’s especially true.

Polly Dobbs is an estate planning lawyer, who along with her team at Dobbs Legal Group, has worked with hundreds of farm families.

Transitioning a business from one generation to another is complicated. Add the complexity of being family owned and operated, and you have an entirely different set of challenges.

Estate planning laws aren’t different for farmers versus others; however, there are variances, such as vocabulary, emotional ties to land, operation versus land, own versus rent, personal financial statement and deeds.

Nate Robinson has been farming in Cass County Michigan for over 40 years and owns Jake’s Country Meats with his wife Lou Ann Robinson. Here he talks about how his farm has been able to benefit from Legacy Project's tools.

People say “you can choose your friends, but not your family.” We could turn that expression around though and say “you can choose to be friends with your family.” That step could be especially important if you also choose to work with family every day in veterinary practice. That was a choice Jim Furman, DVM, MS, and his son Tom Furman, DVM, MS, made 11 years ago when Tom returned to join the family practice, the Animal Center, in Alliance, Neb.

As you develop your estate plan, consider opportunities for charitable giving.

The Longleys have been in the farming business for four generations, and they’ve never had a woman running their operation. Until now.

President Barack Obama is proposing a fundamental change in tax policy that would limit what many Americans can leave to their heirs.

Succession planning is more than gathering the family around the table and throwing together an estate plan. It’s a step-by-step process that provides for the financial and leadership success.