Persons of all ages are invited to attend a “Farm and Ranch Estate Planning Workshop” hosted by UNL Extension. This workshop will be held on Friday, March 23, 2018, 9:30 AM – 2:30 PM at Nebraska Extension in Saline County, 306 West 3rd Street, Wilber, NE.
Cost to attend is $20.00 per farm operation and $10.00 for each additional family member. Please preregister by Tuesday, March 20, 2018 by calling Nebraska Extension in Saline County, phone (402) 821-2151, to ensure that there are enough handouts, food and other materials. The registration fee will include your meal, handouts, and presentations.
One presentation will focus on the decisions and situations which should be addressed when thinking about how your farm or ranch estate will be passed. Topics will include: the need for planning, proper family communications, who makes the decisions, concept of fair versus equal, preparing to meet with an attorney, and much more. The presentation is designed to give some basic information to those that haven’t yet started to think about their succession or transition plan for their assets.
In addition, an agriculture attorney will be making his presentation to give agricultural families the basics of what they need to start planning their wills, trusts, and other end of life documents that need to be in order. The objective is to start the process of having the farm succession or transition planned.
Allan Vyhnalek, UNL Extension Educator for Farm Succession, will present. He was just assigned to the Ag Economics Department recently to work on farm and ranch succession and transition. Joe Hawbaker, Omaha based attorney, will make the legal presentation. He has worked with farmers for over 30 years and will cover the legal aspects of end of life decision making. Hawbaker will cover estate planning basics, including incapacity planning, then succession tools and how to use a decision tree.
Participants at previous events always report that they wished they would have started sooner, when asked about the value of attending the presentation. The consequences of not having an appropriate plan in place can jeopardize the financial stability and the future of the family. More importantly, we need to have our wishes known to others so the legacy of the farms and ranches can be passed to the individuals or entities intended.
For more information or assistance, please contact Randy Pryor, UNL Extension Educator, phone (402) 821-2151.