How and Why You Need to Create an Estate Plan
Question of the Week: What do you want for the future of your operation?
You’ve poured blood, sweat and tears into building the cattle operation and business you have today. Chances are you have a bigger vision for what you are creating than you will live to see fulfilled. Have you taken the time to write down what that vision is and share it with the next generation?
Now, what are you doing to protect this vision and make sure that the next generation can continue this legacy?
Is that creating or updating an estate? Is it creating a succession plan? Is it creating a strategic plan? You tell me!
How and Why You Need to Create an Estate Plan
Kacy Atkinson joins the show to share her family's story of losing her brother and what they learned about why estate plans are critical components to the business structure of farms and ranches. Kacy uses her previous experience from her days in extension combined with her personal experiences to provide cattle producers insight on how to get started with this process and what it means for their cattle operations.
Kacy’s Story
Kacy Atkinson grew up on her family’s ranch in Wyoming. When you ask her where she lives, she will tell you it is 10 miles past nowhere which she has turned into her social media handle to advocate for the beef industry and share her travel adventures. Kacy spent time working in higher education and extension before returning to her family’s operation. Her family first began the estate planning process when her grandmother was close to passing away to prepare for and manage inheritance taxes, however, nothing prepared them for what would happen when a member of the family operation passed away out of order. Kacy’s brother unexpectedly passed away just after making the decision to return to the family operation.
The buttoned-up estate plan they thought they had created was no longer as effective as they intended because the child passed away before the parents and was recently married without the family knowing. This occurrence not only put the family in a challenging legal and financial position but also made the grieving process that much more difficult. Kacy now uses the combination of her personal and professional experiences to help cattle producers understand the importance of estate planning and where they can start by speaking around the country at beef industry conventions and events.
Why Cattle Producers Need Estate Plans
Kacy had the opportunity to work with cattle producers during her professional career off of the ranch and help them create succession and estate plans. She mentions that succession planning is about managing the people and assessing their knowledge, skillsets and readiness to take over a family operation. Estate planning is all about protecting the assets of an operation. Creating an estate plan is a critical part of your business plan and it’s concerning that so many family operations do not have these in place.
“I think for me it's a little bit crazy why so many operations don’t have estate plans, because you have spent your entire life, all your money, all of your time, all of your effort, you have sacrificed so much you have poured in all of this blood, all of the sweat all of these tears into this asset, essentially. And so to me, why wouldn't you do everything you could to protect that asset that you have given literally everything to in most cases, to make sure that it can then carry on and do what you want it to do for the next generation to make sure that somebody can get it if there's somebody there who wants it,” Atkinson says.
Having a buttoned-up estate plan allows you to take care of your loved ones financially and emotionally. You can have these conversations with our without a mediator while everyone is still alive and able to come to understanding. You are also able to work with lawyers and experts to ensure you protect your land and other valuable assets on your operation from going to the state or putting your loved ones in a challenging financial position due to inheritance taxes.
Beginning Steps & Advice
The number piece of advice that Kacy offers to other cattle producers is to find the right lawyer. Cheap and local is not always the right option. You want to find someone who is familiar with estate planning laws in your state and can fully protect your operation to make sure your assets are passed down like you want them to be. She encourages cattle producers to do their due diligence and ask around and discover what lawyers others recommend to make sure they find someone who will do the job right.
The next piece of advice Kacy offers is to waste no time in starting this process. If you don’t have an estate plan already, start creating one now. The same goes for if you are 18 or older and do not have a will. She reminds cattle producers that these plans can be edited as life goes on, but you need to have something just in case.
At the end of the day, at least make sure you do the bare minimum to protect the land. Having these conversations while you are still alive will make it easier for your loved ones when you pass away. Kacy’s final advice is to remember that the estate plan is not just for you to pass on your dreams and wishes. It is to take care of your loved ones too. Not only does it financially protect them, but it allows them the ability to simply grieve when you pass away and not have excess financial burden added on top of the grieving process. 
