What’s involved in farm inheritance planning?
The first step in farm inheritance planning is taking the time to fully discuss your plans with your whole family. You’ll want to establish who will be involved in the future running of the farm and make sure that they understand their roles and responsibilities. A comprehensive overview of each individual’s unique situation helps you effectively and fairly structure your estate.
Next, you will need to take a full inventory of the farm by identifying and valuing farm assets. This allows you to define who owns all machinery and equipment and what you can pass on in your will.
Then, you will want to put the appropriate legal structures in place such as wills, trusts, or family companies, to best protect your assets for the benefit of your entire family.
A valid will gives clear guidance to your executors so that your assets are passed on to your intended beneficiaries and minimises the risk of disputes. Wills and trusts can also reduce the burden of inheritance tax and take advantage of any available business agriculture relief.
You can set up a family company to pay dividends to different family members per their contributions or you may want to place the farm in a trust with your children as beneficiaries.
At Rowlinsons, our estate planning solicitors can prepare your will, tailored to your specific circumstances and plans. We can also help you with setting up trusts or family companies. Get in touch today to find out more.
Inheritance Tax Relief on Agricultural Assets
Certain agricultural land and property can be passed onto your beneficiaries’ inheritance tax-free. The rules for agricultural relief are as follows:
Land and property that qualifies for agricultural relief from inheritance tax:
- Land used to intensively rear animals or grow crops.
- Some agricultural shares and securities
- Farmhouses, farm buildings, and cottages.
- Crops that are growing
- Short rotation coppices
- Land not currently farmed under the crop rotation scheme.
- Land not currently farmed under the habitat protection scheme.
- Stud farms.
- Milk quota value associated with the land.
Land and property assets that are currently excluded from agricultural relief from inheritance tax:
- Farm machinery and equipment.
- Derelict buildings
- Crops that have been harvested.
- Livestock.
- Property that is already under contract for sale.
The team at Rowlinson can advise on how to make the most of agricultural tax relief.
Why choose Rowlinsons as your farm succession planning solicitors?
At Rowlinsons, we understand that every rural and farming business is unique which is why we tailor our service to suit you. Our expert estate planning solicitors can advise on all matters of farm succession planning from drafting wills, creating trusts, and setting up family companies to identifying the best way to structure your estate for inheritance tax.
We’ll help you navigate the complexities of farm inheritance and tax planning so that you can make the best decisions for your family and leave a lasting legacy for farming generations to come.
Contact our Farm Succession Planning Consultants
If you own a farm and want to make sure it is passed on to the next generation, it is crucial to seek the advice of expert farm succession planning solicitors to ensure you minimise the impact of taxes on your assets.
Our expert Lifetime Planning Solicitors in Cheshire provide tailored legal advice to farmers and farm owners in Warrington, Widnes, St Helens, Chester, Northwich, North Wales, and across the UK from our offices in Frodsham and Runcorn (Sutton Weaver) about how to plan a tax-effective succession to avoid excessive tax bills.
Call us today for an initial no obligation call or click here for a call back. We also have meeting facilities in North Wales by appointment.