One Kid Farms. The Others Don't. What Does Your Estate Plan Say?

One kid farms. The others don't. Should they all inherit an equal share of the farm? This is one of the biggest questions I deal with when helping Minnesota families with farm estate planning. Mom and Dad want to be fair to everybody. I understand that. But if most of your wealth is tied up in farmland, dividing everything equally can create a pretty big problem for the child who's actually farming. How are they supposed to buy out their siblings at today's land values? Can the farm support that kind of debt? Or are we setting things up so the land eventually has to be sold? There are other ways to approach this. In this video, I talk about how we can use life insurance, other assets, and structured payments to provide an inheritance for non-farming children while still getting the farm to the next generation. I also explain why I sometimes prefer leaving the farm to the farming child subject to a specific payment to their siblings, rather than making them negotiate a buyout after Mom and Dad are gone. And here's something I think gets overlooked. Not every non-farming child wants a piece of the farm. I've worked with families where those kids understand what it would mean to make their brother or sister buy them out. The important thing is figuring out what you want to accomplish and making sure your family knows what to expect. Fair doesn't always mean equal. And an equal estate plan isn't necessarily a successful farm succession plan. If you've got farming and non-farming children, don't leave these decisions for them to figure out after you're gone. 🌾 www.FarmLawyer.com 📞 507-288-5567 Wagner Oehler, Ltd. Helping Minnesota farm families with farm succession planning, estate planning, and agricultural law. #FarmingMatters #WagnerOehler #FarmSuccession #FarmEstatePlanning #FamilyFarm #MinnesotaFarms #FarmInheritance #FarmLawyer