Farm Estate GPS

The STEP Act, the 99.5% Act, and the American Families Plan are all proposals that could fundamentally change the rules for tax and estate planning. Concerned farm families are calling in daily asking, “What do we do to protect our farm if the tax law changes?” That’s...

Do you remember hearing sayings as a kid, and you really didn’t know what they meant? Then later in life you figured it out? Well right now, I’m thinking “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you!” By now, many of you have heard of some of the proposed tax law changes and...

There are less and less things I enjoy watching on TV, but occasionally I enjoy watching Shark Tank. For those who are not familiar with the TV show, the general concept is people bring their product, or business into the “Shark Tank”. The Sharks are some very...

One of the key ingredients to farm estate planning is working directly with the decision makers. Usually the decision makers are the ones who own the underlying assets. Yet every year I get multiple calls from the decision takers (the children) who are frustrated with...

Do you want to know an interesting fact? It’s often easier to do the farm succession planning when you know one of the kids will sell their land someday. At least it’s known. But then there are times when parents say, “I don’t know if he will sell or not. He’s rather...

It seems like we spend most of the time in estate planning determining “who is getting what.” After several meetings and some number crunching, the difficult decisions get made and there’s an agreement in principle about how the family wants things to happen. Then the...