Early tomorrow morning before you finish tying your boot laces and before all of the people and things start tugging on you for your time and attention, step out the back door with your second cup of coffee and pause to give a little time to questions such as these:

. . . do you have the hundreds of “pieces” that make you a grower, even signed agricultural leases for part of the land you farm, all in one place, all in a single box held firmly together as one unit with a tightly knotted legal cord?

. . . could you this afternoon, rather than with a hundred writings transferring ownership of each single thing you need and use as a grower, on a half-sheet of paper and in two or three sentences at most transfer ownership of the box, legally transfer ownership of your farm as a going operation, to your son or daughter or to the person who came yesterday with check in hand asking to buy. After which you could then simply turn with your spouse and check in hand to a tomorrow when you leave the house only to do if and what you want.

You began your career as a grower – sugarcane, cotton, rice or soybeans, maybe now some industrial hemp – 20 years ago and may have started "with nothing" as the expression goes; during that period you and your spouse built your home, cared for and educated your children now all grown and starting their own work-life path; "built a business"; and mid-career is the time to put in place the means by which you and your spouse smoothly exit and move on to things you have worked to have time for at retirement.

New Company. If you would like some help positioning yourself for the tomorrow and retirement you have worked for, the place to start is designing and building the box, the corporation or limited liability company (LLC) that will hold everything – equipment, land, equipment used to repair equipment, accounts receivable as well as payable –and maybe a farm management consultant contract as an obligation of the company and its new owners to you.
Existing Company. If you organized your farm as a company some time ago, the charter should be reviewed to make certain it still meets your intentions. Laws as well as circumstances and assets will have changed since then, which may deter the goals you had at the time. With proper and updated provisions in a company charter or operating agreement, steps could also be taken to prevent any delay or disruption of business operations should you or your spouse die unexpectedly and a probate be necessary.

And at the time you begin with this, take out for review the will you may have written years ago. While your old will may not need to be changed, there could be reasons about which you are not aware based on events that occurred since then or changes in circumstances to amend or redo it.

More information and further reading on Louisiana’s Industrial Hemp Program

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Disclaimer: This blog does not provide legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you need legal advice, please contact an attorney directly.

Do You Have a Succession Plan for Your Family Farming Business?