planning for the future of your farm

National Agricultural Law Center webinar announcement
By: Peggy Kirk Hall, Monday, February 13th, 2023

After many years in private law practice, OSU’s Robert Moore knows the unique estate planning challenges farm families face.  The capital-intensive nature of farming and the family legacy associated with it are just two of the many issues that contribute to those challenges.  But Moore also knows there are legal strategies that can help farm families meet their estate planning needs.

Join Moore as he reviews both the challenges of farm family estate planning and ways to address those challenges in a webinar this Wednesday at Noon.  The webinar offers a chance to learn more about topics such as dealing with on-farm and off-farm heirs, distribution plan ideas, and how trusts can benefit a farm estate plan.  The National Agricultural Law Center will host the webinar as part of its free monthly webinar series. Registration is necessary and is available online at https://nationalaglawcenter.org/webinars/estate-planning/.

The webinar represents an ongoing partnership between OSU’s Agricultural & Resource Law Program and the National Agricultural Law Center.  For eight years, the two institutions have worked together to bring agricultural law research and information to the nation’s agricultural community with support from the USDA’s National Agricultural Library.  Our agricultural law library on farmoffice.osu.edu contains many resources developed through this partnership, including recent publications on Planning for the Future of Your Farm, Keeping Farmland in the Family, and Long-Term Care and the Farm.  Those and a multitude of other agricultural law resources are also available on the National Agricultural Law Center’s website at nationalaglawcenter.org. 

If you’re not available to attend the webinar this Wednesday, find a recording of it and all other webinars in the monthly series at https://nationalaglawcenter.org/webinars.

Logos

Ohio farm and Planning for the Future of Your Farm Webinar Series title
By: Peggy Kirk Hall, Friday, December 09th, 2022

We're happy to announce our popular “Planning for the Future of Your Farm” webinar series for 2023.  The four-part online series will be on January 23 and 30 and February 6 and 13 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. This workshop will help farm families learn strategies and tools for transferring farm ownership, management, and assets to the next generation.

Workshop topics

Here's what the webinar will cover:

  • Developing goals
  • Planning for the transition of management
  • 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

Workshop faculty

You and your family will learn from two of Ohio's top farm transition experts:

  • Robert Moore, Attorney with our Agricultural & Resource Law Program. If you didn't already know, Robert was in private practice for 18 years before joining our program. He provided legal counsel to farmers and landowners across Ohio on business, farm transition, and estate planning. 
  • David Marrison, OSU Extension Field Specialist in Farm Management. David has been with OSU Extension for 25 years and is nationally known for his teaching in farm succession. He has a unique ability to intertwine humor when speaking about the difficulties of passing the farm on to the next generation. 

Registration

Because of its virtual nature, you can invite your parents, children, and grandchildren to the webinar, regardless of where they live in Ohio or across the United States. The webinar offers an easy way to include all family members in learning about how to develop a plan for the future of your family farm. 

Families must pre-register for the workshop by January 16, 2023 at go.osu.edu/farmsuccession.  We appreciate the support of the Ohio Corn & Wheat Growers Association in sponsoring the workshop and helping us keep the cost at $75 per farm family. The registration includes one printed set of materials that we'll mail to a family member, and other members will have access to electronic copies of the materials.

In-person workshops planned also

Several of our OSU Extension county educators are also hosting day-long in-person versions of the workshop on these dates:

Don't miss out

We hope you'll join us for this important series!  Even if you already have an estate plan or have begun one, this workshop should help you learn more and ensure that you're effectively addressing your goals for the future of your farm and farm family. 

For additional information David Marrison at marrison.2@osu.edu or 740-722-6073.

Front page of Long-Term Care and the Farm guide
By: Peggy Kirk Hall, Tuesday, November 22nd, 2022

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.

Child running on Ohio farmland with sunset in background.
By: Peggy Kirk Hall, Tuesday, January 18th, 2022

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.

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