Estate planning for a family farm

There are two issues which you might want to discuss with a lawyer. First, you might want to consider creating a partnership or and LLC to own the farm. The partners or members of the LLC could create an agreement which limits their rights to pass on interests in the farm to their children or trusts for their children. Another issue is having your brother and his prospective wife enter into a pre-nuptial agreement. The farm could be specifically exempted from any assets distributable to the wife in case of divorce or death. Another advantage of an LLC or limited partnership is creditor protection. I can let you have the name of a lawyer [not in NJ] with whom I've taught continuing education programs. He has a lot of experience with farm planning. You can e-mail me at [email protected] Good luck. Jeffrey LEGAL DISCLAIMER Atty. Crown is licensed to practice law in Connecticut with an office in Rocky Hill. His phone number is 860-257-4330 and his email address is [email protected] This response is not legal advice and does not create an attorney/client relationship. This response is only a form of legal education. It is intended to only provide general information about the matter within the question. Oftentimes the question does not include significant and important facts and timelines that if known could significantly change the reply or make the reply unsuitable. Atty. Crown strongly advises the questioner to confer with an attorney in his or her state in order to ensure proper advice is received. By using this site you understand and agree that there is no attorney client relationship or confidentiality between you and the attorney responding. This site should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed attorney that practices in the subject area in your state, who is familiar with your specific facts and all of the circumstances and with whom you have an attorney client relationship. The law changes frequently and varies from state to state. The information and materials provided are general in nature, and may not apply to a specific factual or legal circumstance described in the question or omitted from the question. Circular 230 Disclaimer - Any information in this comment may not be used to eliminate or reduce penalties by the IRS or any other governmental agency. Crown

The best way to provide the asset protection for the family farm that you are suggesting is your goal (and hopefully, your parents as well!) is to have the owners establish a revocable trust and transfer the farm to that trust. Make sure that the language of the trust mandates that the land is left 'in trust' to each of you with rules governing how it could be sold and limiting who would be entitled to inherit when each of you die. These are just two obvious considerations but there are many other things you all must think through. In fact, if the land could be subdivided now so that you didn’t have to worry about how your brother plans to manage his half it might be less troublesome for all concerned. If that is not possible or even desirable, keep in mind that what you are asking for is a fairly complex that without a well conceived plan could result in a lot of unintended consequences for both of you. Please seek the advice of a qualified estate planning attorney in your area. Good luck.

As with most things there is no one way to accomplish your goals which is clearly superior in all events to other methods. The best thing for your parents to do is meet with an experienced estate planner to go over their particular facts and goals. If I can be of any assistance please contact me to discuss things further. Very truly yours, Ed Smeltzer ******************************************* Law Office of Edward J. Smeltzer II 180B Tices Lane, Suite 103 East Brunswick, NJ 08816 Phone: 732-246-3131 Fax: 866-824-4779 NOTE: This answer was prepared for educational purposes only. By using this site you understand and agree that there is no attorney client relationship or confidentiality between you and the attorney responding. This site should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed attorney that practices in the subject area in your jurisdiction and with whom you have an attorney client relationship. The law changes frequently and varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The information and materials provided are general in nature, and may not apply to a specific factual or legal circumstance described in the question or omitted from the question.