What to do with the Farm

I have to agree. from my experience it's a mistake to try and control things from beyond the grave. I have seen good houses literally rot into the ground because the heirs couldn't sell it and couldn't agree to live or let someone else live in it.

Good luck!

AMEN AMEN AMEN!!!!!!!!!!

All I want is some space for my dog, chickens, girlfriend and I. It will be MANY years before I can afford it. I've been keeping my eyes open though. I was looking at 20 acres for 150K thats close to here....


One day...

Be very careful with he land trust organizations! One of the most beautiful and historic orchards in our area was left to one, and immediately they ripped out hundreds of trees from the orchard. Their true intent was to remove all traces that it had been a farm. It was an environmentalist group that talked the previous owners into signing the place over when they died.

When DH and I are old and having difficulty farming, if we can afford it we will hire help on a job by job basis. If not, we will sell to someone who will continue to farm it, unless one of our kids decide they want to farm. At this point the kids want as little to do with the place as possible.

__________________
I yam what I yam and that's all what I yam.

Popeye

You could put the farm in a conservation easement whereby it can't be developed (lots of different options on how restrictive this is). Then either sell the farm before you die, or let the kids sell it afterwards. It won't bring as much money as it would if you sold it *without* the easement, but at least it would afford you some peace of mind that it should not be developed.

My kids can do as they please after I'm gone.
This place has been in the family 200 years,
and I love it. Hope they will. But, every time
I ever saw some attempt to control after death,
it turned out poorly. What makes us think we
know what will be good or right years down
the road?

First off, what does a generation mean? You have had 3 generations live on the farm, right? Okay, so what if the next generation isn't part of the "family." Maybe the next generation is a person as others have said, that will cherish it. So pass it on to the "next generation" just not to a generation in your family.

Someone will love that place and it will go on being handed down to the "next generation" as long as the good Lord sees fit to have generations out there.

I wish you good luck with whatever you decide to do. It is a hard decision, definitely!

Valorie

I know that feeling. Our former landlady owns about 180 acres surrounding us & seldom comes here. She was out yesterday & before that it was 2005! She only lives 50 miles away. She inheirited the land & is a city gal. Doesn't have a clue about most things country. Has a farm manager to take care of the place which consists of renting the land out to another farmer. We bought 3.5 acres from her & would love to have more. She of course doesn't want to sell at an affordable price. Hopefully one day she will see the light & sell us some more acreage at a price we can afford. Man, I miss ehr dad. He was a great guy & awesome landlord. If he would have lived longer I think I could have gotten a better deal. He really liked me.

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I can't believe I deleted it!

Sell it to someone that can use and love it for a family farm. It is so frustrating, we have been traveling the countryside for several years looking up owners of unused farm houses and finding relatives in far off areas that have no intrest in selling it or using it. To hold on to such a piece of land that could be used is wrong. House need families and children within their walls. Land needs critters grazing on it and gardens and orchards growing. People just leave these neat old houses to fall down. Makes me so sad. Hope to find someone someday that will say sure lets work a deal, make our home a happy place.

Have faith. I was raised on a farm. It was pure hard work most of the time, and as a teen, I couldn't wait to get away from it. I moved to the biggest city I could find a job in, and became one of "those" people -- made more money at 21 than my father had seen as ten year's income, and married a man who had the same aspirations as I -- professional success.

Then we had children, and started looking at the world around us. The things my father taught me when I was a child started making a whole lot more sense as I matured and considered the world my own children would grow up in.

Now, I'm back on a farm. Granted -- not the one I was raised on, Dad had sold that when Mom got ill, but I would have LOVED to have bought it -- I was just a few years shy of "getting" what Dad had been teaching us for years -- the land is security.

If you've taught your children well, they'll come back to it -- but if they don't, they were meant for something else. My brother still lives in that big city we both "escaped" to, and wouldn't change that for the world.

So, have faith that you raised your children to be true to their own personalities, leave them what you choose to, and let them deal with the fallout. You can't take care of them forever -- at some point, you have to let them choose.

Oh, and stop bailing them out. That only keeps them from learning the consequences of their lifestyle choices, and keeps them from learning the whole land/security thing -- which is what you want them to learn.

__________________
Ignorance is the true enemy.

I've seen the village, and I don't want it raising my children.

www.newcenturyhomestead.com

Have faith, PrairieDog -- we found ours that way. This place had been empty since 1982. It's a beautiful big old brick place, and we couldn't love it more if it had been in our family for five generations. The family we bought it from were the children of the last man to farm it -- and the family had been the original homesteaders three or four generations back. There are lots of places out there looking for a family, you'll find yours

__________________
Ignorance is the true enemy.

I've seen the village, and I don't want it raising my children.

www.newcenturyhomestead.com

This is EXACTLY what I was thinking. Thank you Tracy, for so eloquently stating the obvious.

RVcook

Why leave the kids anything? It sounds like they do not share your values, at least as far as money is concerned.

I was so sad to hear of this situation in our family. An elderly relative has passed on leaving her farm property to her children...none of whom wants to farm. One of the grandsons has been farming it for the past decade but cannot afford to purchase said farm from the family due to the inflated land prices in the area. The farm will be sold for a few million and subdivided. Her children will get a nice inheritance. I can't say its right or not right, but I sure feel bad for the one fella who does want to farm it. In this particular area there is no way he will be able to afford to purchase a farm, it has become a very trendy area with most farms being torn apart or added to large corporate holdings.
In another family, the youngest son has purchased the farm from the Dad (my cousin)at a good price. It has still put a few noses out of joint amongst the brothers and sisters because Dad gave him a good deal, but he was the only one who stayed and did any farming.
I don't know if there are any win-win situations. Good Luck.

I believe the OP feels like we do--our farm feels like a living, breathing entity, since he has carried on with it, as generations before him, it needs as much thought as the kids do.
I still feel it should be in trust, for future generations, who will care for, and love it. Remember--they dont make land anymore.

__________________
In Life, We Weep at the thought of Death'
Who Knows, Perhaps in Death,
We Weep at the though of Life.

I am from Kentucky and would love it if you would put the land into trust to save some of gorgeous country from being developed. Most kids nowadays will sell and take the money and run. We are looking into finding a "little neck of the woods" that we can afford one day and put into trust ourselves to try and perserve this country from being overdeveloped.

Good luck with your decision, but look seriously into the trust issue. There are many ways to do it and tax benefits!

Boy that pretty much says it all Still not sure on the trust thing we will talk with our lawyer soon Thanks everone for all the thoughts and ideas

I can see both sides of the coin here - sell it to someone who actually wants to farm it, or put it in a trust to protect it. Either way, it sounds like the kids will be mad.

I've seen the family farm that has been passed on down to the kids after death. One farm I hear used to be taken care of spotlessly - the parents had great pride in their farm and kept it neat. After they died though, two of the children got into a horrible fight over the old homestead, so as a result, nothing ever got done to it and the currently the house is in very bad shape. The children did settle their differences and the son ended up with it which he used as a farm, but he also bought and carried in all kinds of scrap machines. He just recently died, but I'm guessing once the estate is settled, the farm will be sold and the old formerly grand house will be bulldozed.

As for putting it into a trust or controlling it after your death, I've seen some cases where after some time passes, those limits on it are forgotten about. As for tying it up for the grandkids or grandchildren to farm it in the future - leaves alot of unanswered questions and pitfalls.

For example, what if you have 2 children and bypass them? They end up having 2 children each and those children grow up and have two children each. You now have 2 children mad at you for tying the land up and they get nothing. Out of the 4 grandchildren only 1 wants to farm, so they farm.
Out of the 8 great grandchildren, 2 of them want to farm it, but neither is the child of the current owner, and the current owner's children want it so they can sell it to a developer. It just creates a huge problem down the road.

The best bet would be to set your children down and ask if any of them want to farm it. If all say "No.", you can then inform them you are going to sell it to somebody who wants to farm. Now the problem is finding someone who actually wants to farm and not someone looking to get a good deal on land that they can flip and make a huge profit to a developer.

Go rent the movie "The Good Earth" that follows a man after his wedding day. The movie goes along through the man's life, his struggles, his joys, and how he obtained land through hard toil and labor. At the end, the old man is old and says to his son's about the land and keeping the land, but his children are only waiting for him to die so they can sell the land and cash it in.

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Michael W. Smith in North-West Pennsylvania

"Everything happens for a reason."

The FIRST thing that you do is to tell them that it is time that they lived on their own incomes.

My MIL could not stand the idea that her daughter could only afford to live in a tacky place, so she "helped" her. The daughter responded by always going to Mom for help.

After MIL got too old to help, SIL became homeless. She kept waiting for someone to "help" her. Friends, family, SOMEBODY!

Nobody did, and so now she lives on her own and is a MUCH more capable person. She could have done it at 25, but did not. She instead learned it at 45.

I think it would have done her more good to live in the tiny place at 25 instead of 45, but, MIL disagreed and helped her, which meant that she never learned how to live within her means until she was homeless. She is doing much better, now.

Some people, because they do not listen to advice, only seem to learn the hard way. It is possible that your kids fit in this group. If you want them to learn, stop bailing them out!

Oldmanriver--I pm'd you.

we got this place from my wifes grandparents. there children had no interest in the land just to sell it off. I worked with the grandparents here on the place & we kept the place up . My wife worked here also through collage. SO we got the farm and still work it today. Our kids have no interest in farming, just selling the land -so they will not get it . I am activly lookin for a young relitive that will keep the farm going and never ever sell. that was my promace when we got the place & that will be the promice when we die & pass it on. TO who? no one yet.... but like y'all looking