Farms, families often suffer without estate planning

An estate and succession planning expert says not developing a farm transition plan is often difficult for survivors and the farm operation. 

John Shoup with the Indiana Ag Law Foundation tells Brownfield families have been fractured after the death of a family member. “The relationships are fractured because of either maybe there was no plan or maybe people didn’t feel like they were included in the plan, and that’s an awfully difficult situation.”

Shoup says when they began educating farm families, they started with the basic wills, trusts, and power of attorney information but have expanded to help manage family dynamics.

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