“It is not fun thinking about dying,” explains Tiffany Lashmet, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension ag law specialist. “It is not fun having to make these decisions. Nobody wants to hire a lawyer. But we do this because we want to keep adding generations on our shoulders.”
Lashmet was a featured speaker during the 2025 Beef Improvement Federation (BIF) Symposium June 10 in Amarillo, Texas.
“If you are 18 years or older, you need to be thinking about an estate plan,” she stressed to attendees during the young producer symposium.
Her presentation focused on the critical importance of estate and succession planning for agricultural operations. She emphasized the process is crucial for everyone 18 and older, regardless of their current assets or family situation.
She shared five key steps to successful transition planning:
- Create a “Flight Plan”
This is a comprehensive folder containing essential information someone would need if you were to pass away.
It should include details about:
- Financial accounts and investments
- Insurance policies
- Bank account information
- Debt and payment schedules
- Legal documents
- Asset lists
- Business contracts
- Contact information for key professionals - Determine Your Goals
This step involves having open, honest family conversations about the future of the farm or ranch.
Key considerations include:
- Each family member’s desires
- How to divide assets fairly
- Potential conflicts between heirs
- The financial viability of supporting multiple families
- Potential long-term care and Medicaid needs Develop a Business Succession Plan
- Assess the next generation’s skills
- Create opportunities for younger family members to gain experience
- Consider business structures like LLCs that can facilitate smooth transitions
- Develop a plan for who will manage the day-to-day operations“If your kids don’t get along now, leaving them the ranch together is not fixing it,” Lashmet points out.
- Prepare Essential Legal Documents
She lists four critical documents:
- Will: Specifies how property will be distributed
- Advanced Healthcare Directive: Provides instructions for medical treatment
- Medical Power of Attorney: Designates someone to make medical decisions
- Durable Power of Attorney: Allows someone to make financial decisions - Draft and Implement the Plan
Lashmet recommends producers work with professional legal and financial advisers. She also stresses the importance of reviewing and updating documents annually making sure beneficiary designations are current.
Lashmet shared these alarming statistics: “Only 12% of businesses survive transfer from the first generation to the second. From the second to the third, it’s around 9%. From the third to the fourth, it’s 3%,” she says.
Preserving family legacy and building upon the work of previous generations is why estate planning is so important. By planning carefully, families can ensure their operations continue smoothly across generations and maintain the knowledge, traditions and land that have been cultivated over time.
To learn more about this topic, Lashmet authors a “Texas Ag Law Blog” and hosts an “Ag Law in the Field” podcast.
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