When preparing the farm for the next generation, it's easy to get wrapped up in the legal pieces and forget the most important one - succession planning. It's the piece that, without time and effort, will throw everything off track for generations tocome. Poor succession planning is the greatest estate tax of all! While estate planning is the process of making sure you have the legal details covered to minimize tax consequences and transfer assets, succession planning focuses on preparing the next leader(s) to lead. No matter how good you are at tax planning - if your heir has never worked with the farm's finances or worked with your supplier on seed selection - it's a problem. Handoffs happen over time, grooming leadership and demonstrating abilities.
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