planning for the future of your farm
Long-term care costs are a threat to family farms. In fact, we predict that long-term care costs are the biggest financial threat to farm families, even more so than federal estate taxes. That’s because long-term care can affect every farm--and when cash or insurance runs out, farm assets may have to be sold to pay for long-term care. With an increasing elderly population and rising health care costs, the financial pressure of long-term care on family farm succession will probably grow in future years.
What can farm families do to protect farm assets from the risk of long-term care? Our latest publication by attorney Robert Moore, Long-Term Care and the Farm, addresses this question. The publication begins with an important first step: understanding long-term care risk. What is the chance that a farmer will require long-term care, what kind of care is most common, and what how much will it cost? Robert presents data and statistics that help us predict the expected type, length, and costs of long-term care services a farmer might require.
Once we assess long-term care risk, the next important question is how to pay for long-term care while keeping farm assets secure. Robert explains how Medicare and Medicaid programs can apply to long-term care costs. He then presents several legal strategies to mitigate long-term care risk and protect farm assets. The guide wraps up with a process a farm family can follow to assess long-term care risk for their individual situation.
It's possible to keep family farmland and the family farm businesses safe from the risk of long-term care. If long-term care is a concern for your farm family, be sure to read this important new publication and talk with an agricultural attorney about protection strategies. The publication is available at no cost through our funding partnership with the National Agricultural Law Center and the USDA National Agricultural Library. Read Long-Term Care and the Farm here.
Tags: Long-term care planning, Estate Planning, transition planning, planning for the future of your farm
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Whether it's to protect family farmland, bring future generations into the operation, address special needs like retirement, disability, or remarriage--taking legal steps now can make your goals for the future of your farm a reality. Farm transition planning is so important to keeping a farm and a farm family together, but it's easy to make mistakes that can bring unintended problems in the future. Consider this this list of seven common mistakes farmers make in farm transition planning:
1. Procrastination.
2. Thinking joint property titles will do.
3. Overlooking expenses at time of death.
4. Assuming no federal estate taxes.
5. Trying to be fair to all beneficiaries.
6. Failing to consider disability as well as death.
7. Avoiding communication.
We'll discuss and address all of these issues in our "Planning for the Future of Your Farm" workshops this winter. We can help you get over that procrastination hurdle, develop your goals, deal with communication issues and understand legal strategies. Join me, attorney Robert Moore, and farm management educator David Marrison for either a day-long live program or a four-part live webinar this winter, where we cover these topics:
- Developing goals for estate and succession planning
- Planning for the transition of control
- Planning for the unexpected
- Communication and conflict management during farm transfer
- Legal tools and strategies
- Developing your team
- Getting your affairs in order
- Selecting an attorney
Dates and locations for the workshops are:
- Live Zoom webinar on January 31 and February 7, 21 and 28 from 6:30--8:30 pm.
- Because of its virtual nature, parents, children, and grandchildren can easily attend this workshop, regardless of where they live!
- Day-long in-person workshops:
- February 10, 2022--OSU Extension Greene County, Xenia, Ohio
- February 25, 2022--OSU Fisher Auditorium, Wooster, Ohio
- March 4, 2022--Wood County Fairgrounds, Bowling Green, Ohio
Pre-registration is necessary for all workshops. For registration and further information, visit this link: go.osu.edu/farmsuccession. Together, let's make 2022 the year that you make plans for the future of your farm.
Tags: farm transition planning, Estate Planning, planning for the future of your farm, succession planning
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