Only 30% of family-owned businesses pass on to the next generation, many are liquidated due to a lack of a succession plan. Family farms without succession plans are in danger of losing their property and assets when a farmer or rancher dies. A succession plan is a process that includes anything from a will, a trust, buy or sell agreements, rent or lease agreements and all assets. A succession plan also names who will run the farm or ranch.
Allan Vyhnalek, Nebraska extension educator at the University of Nebraska, and Brandon Dirschneider, certified farm transition specialist and managing principal at Insurance Design Management in Omaha, discuss the importance of having a transition plan for the family farm.
