Family farms - how do you cope?

[Bossfarmer]

Because when you are forty and father is 65 everything is fine.
Scroll forward 15 yrs
55 and knackered
Father 80 and losing it. Or lost it.
Wants to leave it all to the tory party/cat and dog home
Where are you going to go at 55 and what are u going to do.?
Ps, i left home at 30

what age are you now? did you return to the family farm or go elsewhere?

 

[glasshouse]

what age are you now? did you return to the family farm or go elsewhere?

I paddled my own canoe

 

[Red Fred]

But when time moves on and you have a wife and kids but still don't sort anything and worse still when you're willing to lose them over a bit of dirt, that amazes me.
At some point you have to be a man about it and look after your family.

Unfortunately for many, the wife and kids don't become an issue because they are married to the farm instead and the situation there is not conducive to a wife and family. There is then a danger that they become cranky old uncle Fred at the farm, and the non-farming nephews and nieces can't wait for him to pop his clogs so they can have holidays in Thailand and drive Range Rover sports.

 

[Christoph1945]

Had a,.meating every morning over Breafast . 4 way partnership, cant remember any major disagreements , do the same now with my staff at morning coffee in the office

Sounds like a good start to a working day.

 

[Hfd Cattle]

its a very difficult thing to solve, what is fair, and what isn't. Our farm has gone from about 1 mil to 2.5 in 25 yrs. Some of this will have to go to my siblings, and my son will have to, or not, take out a loan, to buy some it. Over the years, I have invested some £500,000, which is re-payable, to me, at market value, so his loan should not be crippling, we/he will be the 3rd family member to buy the farm, due to badly written wills. Both my children, 1 farming, the other not, have been told what my will say's, and why I have done so, and they have had the chance to question it, both understand it, and both tell me they have no problem.
I do think many 'challenges' are made by children's spouses, who see things very differently. I also feel, that if everything is in the open, it will not come as a 'surprise', to other family members, when the day comes. I am determined my son will not be the 4th family member to buy the farm !
But, on the other hand, it is not an easy subject to discuss, and talking to friends, it is scary to see how many have not written a will, mainly because they don't know how to split.
If the last point applies to any reader PLEASE make sure you do, as I am certain you would not want the family splits, and bad arguments, that will surely follow, if you don't.

My fathers will was agreed by all my siblings when he was alive and we all went merrily on our way .......until he died !
All of a sudden the will 'wasn't agreed' by all my siblings. After quite a few yrs after, my one brother and myself offered to swap our portions of his will ,the farming side, with the others .The ones who were left all his money and his 'off farm' property and investments suddenly realised they were probably better off and backed down ! Imagine their shock when they suddenly realised the money they had been left had slowly dwindled down to not much due to the high solicitors costs which they had incurred !

 

[DRC]

Why do tenanted farms hand down an overdraft? [emoji848]

I suppose you become part of a business that has an overdraft , then you become the tenant through succession , the business continues, the parent dies and you still have the overdraft .

 

[roscoe erf]

had em all shot

 

[som farmer]

I suppose you become part of a business that has an overdraft , then you become the tenant through succession , the business continues, the parent dies and you still have the overdraft .

went to Holland on a farm trip, loans etc were all passed down, a way of reducing tax !

 

[som farmer]

My fathers will was agreed by all my siblings when he was alive and we all went merrily on our way .......until he died !
All of a sudden the will 'wasn't agreed' by all my siblings. After quite a few yrs after, my one brother and myself offered to swap our portions of his will ,the farming side, with the others .The ones who were left all his money and his 'off farm' property and investments suddenly realised they were probably better off and backed down ! Imagine their shock when they suddenly realised the money they had been left had slowly dwindled down to not much due to the high solicitors costs which they had incurred !

way around that, is to leave a letter, clearly saying why you have done this/that, included with the will, or so I have been told. As Oldman died '94, there are still issues arising, as mother a life tenant, these issues can't really be sorted. The result of this, is I have done as much as I can, to avoid any complications, but solicitors being greedy, they will probably find something, to justify their fee !!!

 

[Still Farming]

went to Holland on a farm trip, loans etc were all passed down, a way of reducing tax !

People would be fighting for someone's else's loans and debts I bet???

 

[som farmer]

People would be fighting for someone's else's loans and debts I bet???

sounds a good idea, run up debts, and leave them to fight it out.

 

[Still Farming]

sounds a good idea, run up debts, and leave them to fight it out.

No one whould argue about wills ,ownership etc then

 

[holywell farmer]

Am very lucky on my family farm that me and my cousin have always got on 95 percent of the time= there an old saying you can choose your friends but not your family ?

 

[holywell farmer]

It's often sad in family farming situation when there is tension and business gets split up, often these situations aren't very nice for family to deal with the aftermath

 

[chipchap]

Am very lucky on my family farm that me and my cousin have always got on 95 percent of the time= there an old saying you can choose your friends but not your family ?

But how do your wives and children get on?
Perhaps the cake would be easier to cut up while everybody is on good terms?

 

[holywell farmer]

I'm not married and I don't have children

 

[holywell farmer]

But how do your wives and children get on?
Perhaps the cake would be easier to cut up while everybody is on good terms?

Stress to add its my cousins farm I should say I'm there on the odd time when I'm not building

 

[Drillman]

Wife and myself are in our Mid 40s. I’ve been tenant 15 years now. Worked ever since I left college at home on quite a low wage.

My parents decided last year to retire from the business as age and I’ll health meant they could no longer add anything to it. None of us are rich, but through careful saving they have managed to sort a property to live in and with a little help from the farm regarding motoring and house insurance costs they will have a comfortable retirement without being a massive drain on farm finances. In turn my wife and I have now got free reign to take things forward from where we are now. Parents are quite supportive in our alterations we’ve made so far and are happy that we are doing the right thing moving on the business they built from nothing.

 

[czechmate]

Wife and myself are in our Mid 40s. I’ve been tenant 15 years now. Worked ever since I left college at home on quite a low wage.

My parents decided last year to retire from the business as age and I’ll health meant they could no longer add anything to it. None of us are rich, but through careful saving they have managed to sort a property to live in and with a little help from the farm regarding motoring and house insurance costs they will have a comfortable retirement without being a massive drain on farm finances. In turn my wife and I have now got free reign to take things forward from where we are now. Parents are quite supportive in our alterations we’ve made so far and are happy that we are doing the right thing moving on the business they built from nothing.

Have I understood correctly? Your parents handed over the tenancy at a pretty young age?

 

[Drillman]

Have I understood correctly? Your parents handed over the tenancy at a pretty young age?

I would be about 31/32 when I got the tenancy.Stepfather was 65 and had health issues then. His father died at 59 and it caused him tenancy issues so decided not to potentially burden me with the same problems

edit. Stepfather is now in his late 70s and will happily admit that he wouldn’t want the hassle of trying to run the farm anymore. In fact he’s been quite happy to let wifey and me take care of all banking, buying and selling descisions for a few years now with him just in an advisory capacity. Saying all that he still has a look round the stock now and again and is still my cattle mart man when we’re buying or selling stock as it’s a job he can do and means I can get on with other stuff.