Many families hope to transfer farm businesses or property to heirs, to the next generation of the family, or to an unrelated new farmer. However, most farmers are generally unfamiliar with the tax, legal, income, and fairness issues of these transfers. Not surprisingly, few retirement-age farmers have faced up to these issues.

University of Maryland Extension Resources

• Financial Security in Later Life: A Guide to the Cooperative State Resource, Education and Extension Service (USDA)

Agencies, Associations and Government Resources

• North Carolina Farm Transition Network is a website filled with resources to help you transition your legacy to the next generation.
  http://www.ncftn.org/

• Eastern Shore Land Conservancy Website
  http://www.eslc.org/

• Long Term Care defines the topic, presents statistics of nursing home stays, estimates costs of nursing home care, and discusses strategies for funding long term care, including an introduction to Medicaid.
  http://www.cfra.org/pdf/LongTermCare.pdf

• Medicaid: Planning for Long Term Care in the Farm and Ranch Context describes Medicaid eligibility and estate planning tools that preserve Medicaid benefits. Particular attention is paid to Medicaid’s rules on income, sale of assets near the time of Medicaid enrollment, and limits on spousal impoverishment.
  http://www.cfra.org/pdf/MedicaidPlanning.pdf

• Ownership Structures for your Farm or Ranch: Some Basic Considerations describes the business legal structure of sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, and Limited Liability Corporation (LLC). Each is discussed in terms of how it is owned, formed, and managed; how profits and losses are allocated and distributed; how ownership is transferred; and how it is ended.
  http://www.cfra.org/pdf/BusinessStructure.pdf

• Piercing the Corporate Veil: How Limited is the Liability of Doing Business as a Corporation? describes the reasons and instances when courts pierce the ‘corporate shield’ of incorporation to hold the business’ officers liable for debt. Particular attention is directed to instances involving child support or dishonest business transactions.
  http://www.cfra.org/pdf/PiercingCorporateVeil.pdf

• Estate Planning and Land Preservation - MARBIDCO (Maryland Agriculture and Resource-based Industry Development Corporation)
  http://www.marbidco.org/land/ipas.html

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