SERVICES

Estate & Succession
Planning

Protecting your farm’s future — from one generation to the next. Strategic estate and succession planning built specifically for agricultural families.

Trusted by farm families across the country

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WHY IT MATTERS

Your Farm Is More Than
an Asset — It's a Legacy

For most farm families, the land represents generations of hard work, sacrifice, and identity. Yet 70% of farm transfers fail by the second generation — not because of bad farming, but because of inadequate planning.

Farm estate planning isn’t the same as standard estate planning. Agricultural assets — land, equipment, livestock, water rights, crop contracts — require specialized strategies that most general financial advisors simply don’t understand.

At Farm Legacy Consulting, we build estate and succession plans that account for the unique complexities of agricultural operations, ensuring your farm stays productive, profitable, and in the family.

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THE REALITY
70% of farm transfers fail by the 2nd generation
90% fail by the 3rd generation
The #1 reason? No succession plan. Not drought. Not debt. Not market prices. The biggest threat to your farm's future is not having a plan to pass it on.
WHAT'S INCLUDED

A Complete Plan for Your
Farm's Future

Every engagement is tailored to your operation. Here’s what a typical estate and succession planning engagement covers.

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Comprehensive Estate Analysis

Full review of your agricultural assets, ownership structures, existing wills and trusts, and current tax exposure. We map everything before we plan anything.

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Succession Roadmap

A step-by-step timeline for transitioning management and ownership — whether that's to family members, partners, or through a structured sale that preserves your legacy.

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Tax-Efficient Transfer Strategy

Minimize estate taxes, capital gains exposure, and gift tax implications through ag-specific strategies like special use valuation (IRC 2032A), installment sales, and GRATs.

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Entity Structuring

LLCs, family limited partnerships, trusts, and operating agreements designed specifically for agricultural operations — protecting assets while keeping the farm running smoothly.

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Family Alignment Process

We facilitate the hardest conversations — who takes over, how non-farming heirs are treated fairly, and how to prevent the family conflicts that destroy farms faster than drought.

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Legal Document Coordination

We coordinate with your attorney to ensure wills, trusts, buy-sell agreements, and powers of attorney all work together as one cohesive plan — no gaps, no contradictions.

HOW IT WORKS

Our Proven Planning
Process

A structured, step-by-step approach that takes the guesswork out of farm estate and succession planning.

1

Discovery & Assessment

We start with a comprehensive review of your farm operation, family dynamics, existing legal documents, and financial picture. This is where we learn your story — your goals, your concerns, and what "success" looks like for your family.

2

Strategy Design

Based on your goals and the realities of your operation, we design a customized estate and succession strategy. This includes entity structuring recommendations, tax optimization scenarios, transfer timelines, and a plan for how every asset — land, equipment, livestock, cash — moves from one generation to the next.

3

Family Conversation

We help facilitate the conversations that matter most — bringing the family together to discuss roles, expectations, and the plan itself. These meetings are often the most valuable part of the entire process, and we've guided hundreds of families through them.

4

Implementation & Coordination

We coordinate with your attorney, CPA, and insurance advisors to execute the plan — ensuring every document, entity, and policy is in place and working together. Nothing falls through the cracks.

5

Ongoing Review

Farms change. Laws change. Families change. We schedule regular reviews to keep your plan current — adjusting for new tax rules, family developments, land acquisitions, and shifts in the operation.

WHO THIS IS FOR

Estate & Succession Planning Is Right for You If...

✓ You own farmland and want it to stay in the family
✓ You're thinking about retirement but haven't named a successor
✓ You have children — some want to farm, some don't
✓ Your estate could face a significant tax burden
✓ You've been meaning to update your will but keep putting it off
✓ You've had family tension about "what happens to the farm"
COMMON QUESTIONS

Frequently Asked
Questions

Now. The best time to start succession planning was 10 years ago — the second best time is today. A proper succession plan takes time to implement, especially when tax strategies like gifting programs or installment sales are involved. We recommend starting the process at least 5-10 years before you plan to step back from day-to-day operations.
Estate planning focuses on what happens to your assets when you pass away — wills, trusts, beneficiary designations, and tax minimization. Succession planning is broader: it covers the transition of management, decision-making authority, and operational knowledge while you're still alive. A complete plan addresses both.
This is more common than most families realize, and there are excellent strategies for it. Options include leasing the land to a trusted operator, setting up a family LLC to retain ownership while outsourcing management, structured sales to non-family buyers, or conservation easements. We help you find the path that honors your legacy even if the next generation takes a different career path.
This is one of the most critical — and most emotionally charged — questions in farm succession planning. "Fair" doesn't always mean "equal." We use strategies like life insurance to equalize inheritances, structured buy-sell agreements for the farming heir, and separate allocations of farm vs. non-farm assets. The key is having the conversation early and making the reasoning transparent.
It depends on the total value of your estate. The federal estate tax exemption is currently $13.61 million per individual (2024), but agricultural land values have risen dramatically in recent years — many farm estates that were once "safe" now face potential exposure. Additionally, some states have their own estate or inheritance taxes with much lower thresholds. We run a full analysis to determine your exposure and build a strategy to minimize it.
Every farm is different, so we scope our engagements based on the complexity of your operation, family dynamics, and goals. We'll provide a clear proposal after our initial discovery meeting — no surprises. What we can tell you: the cost of proper planning is a fraction of what your family would lose in taxes, legal fees, and family conflict without it.
EXPLORE MORE

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START PLANNING TODAY

Don't Leave Your Farm's
Future to Chance

Every day without a succession plan is a day your family’s legacy is at risk. Schedule a free, no-obligation consultation and let’s start building the plan your farm deserves.

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Or call us: (352) 558-7446