Problems During Farm Succession Planning

By: Paula Barbour

Family business attorney Julie Bogle had a longtime client who, among all the business and legal matters, resisted all attempts to talk about transition planning. Yet, Bogle knew there were several children and no plan was in place for the large-scale operation. Then, in one work session, the client casually referred to his home farm. Bogle followed up by asking how, exactly, had he come to acquire his many additional pieces of land.

He explained that, over the years, every time he knew a farm was coming up for sale and there was no heir or anyone else set to take over, he’d be sure to be there to buy it.