Farm Succession and Estate Planning with Personal Coaching for Participating Families

Farm Succession and Estate Planning with Personal Coaching for Participating Families Roberts, D., Area Extension Agronomist, WSU Spokane/Lincoln County Extension, 222 N. Havana St., Spokane, WA 99202-4799 Tuck*, B.V., Dryland and Irrigated Field Crops Faculty, Wasco County OSU Extension, 400 East Scenic Drive, The Dalles, OR 97058 Kerr*, S.R., WSU-Klickitat County Extension Director, 228 W. Main Street, MS-CH-12 Goldendale, WA 98620 ABSTRACT County faculty from Oregon and Washington Extension initiated a farm succession planning project based on needs assessment of farm families in eastern Washington and Oregon. The project is funded by the Western Center for Risk Manage-ment Education and USDA-CSREES. From 2006 to 2008 we held three farm succession planning workshops at each of six locations across the region. Participation in these workshops greatly exceeded expectations with 40-60 attending at each site. Workshop topics included; reasons for developing a farm succession plan; communicating successfully with all family members involved; identifying appropriate professional input; an overview of relevant state laws; discussion on estate laws and writing wills; conducting successful family meetings; overcoming difficulties encountered in the process; making good use of attorney time; specifying inheritance of treasured personal items; protecting the business in the event of a sudden death; and getting motivated. We recognize that farm succession and estate planning is a challenging process for most families. A unique feature of this project is that the 86 farm families who committed to developing a succession/estate plan received free coaching throughout the project. The coaches were hired initially and trained by WSU to advise farm families who were experi-encing financial difficulty. The coaches all had experience in business and/or the banking industry. They contacted the client families on a regular basis by phone or e-mail to encourage them through the steps of the process. If requested, they met in person with the client families to assist with goal-setting or to facilitate family meetings. SITUATION “ What will become of the family farm?” is often a difficult and heart-wrenching question that must be addressed to ensure a positive outcome for all. Without a farm succession plan (FSP), a farm enterprise may have to be dissolved to settle an estate and even more acreage may be lost from America’s agricultural portfolio. ACTIONS Washington State University Extension and the Oregon State University Extension Service were awarded a $32,488 Western Center for Risk Management Education grant to create the WSU/ OSU Farm Succession Program. A series of regional FSP workshops was held throughout Eastern WA and OR from Nov. 2006 to Jan. 2008. A Web site was created at www.spokane -county.wsu.edu to house workshop materials. Program participants who committed to creating an FSP received free coaching from WSU Farm Family Support Network consultants. “ The workshops helped us...[set] goals for ‘turning over’ the ranch and we completed some of those goals. Thank you.” ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],“ [The program] really motivated me to start this topic. I really didn’t know where to start, it was very helpful and informative.” “ Excellent program, the best! It was especially helpful in getting the children interested in the estate planning process.” “ This brought up issues we had not considered and so was informative as well as being a catalyst for starting the process.” FEEDBACK FROM PARTICIPANTS 10 to date 30 Completed FSP 86 45 Signed Commitment Forms 321 90 Attendance Actual Number of Participating Families Projected Number of Participating Families Table 1. Participant data Without a succession plan, a farm’s future is as precarious as this combine! Photo by John Aeschliman (UBP).

Farm Succession and Estate Planning with Personal Coaching for Participating Families

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Farm Succession and Estate Planning with Personal Coaching for Participating Families