Farms passed from generation to generation require careful estate planning to keep them in the family. Without a good estate plan, the property becomes the subject of estate battles, family fractures and even forced sales. The recent article, “How Inadequate Estate Planning Led to Likely Sale of Family Farm” from Morning Ag Clips, explains what happened to one family.
A mother who owned a farm left a will that gave life estates to her son and daughter, and upon their deaths, the will directed their respective shares to pass to their children. The son’s share would pass to his two sons and the daughter’s share would go to her own daughter and son. The mother and the son passed away and the son’s two boys weren’t interested in farming. They filed a lawsuit to partition the farm and divide the proceeds. Partition refers to a court-ordered process for dividing jointly owned property when co-owners can’t agree on its sale.
The surviving sister (their aunt) objected, as she was still alive, still owned her life estate in half the property and lived on the property. She maintained that the property could not be partitioned until after her death. The court, however, found that the mother’s will created a tenancy in common between the siblings rather than a joint tenancy with the right of survivorship. When the brother passed away, his sons inherited his half of the farm. The court ruled that they had a legal right to seek partition of the entire property despite their aunt still being alive and living on the farm.
If the two sons move forward, their aunt faces a tough choice. She can buy them out if she has the funds to do so, or the entire property will be sold. If it’s sold, she will lose her home and the family legacy at the same time.
Here’s how a better estate plan could have prevented this scenario:
Survivorship protections. The will could have created a joint survivorship life estate, so that upon the first sibling’s death, the other would have inherited full ownership. This would have delayed the transfer to the next generation until the second sibling had passed.
Using a trust. Instead of using a life estate and the remainder through a will, the farm could have been placed into a trust, which would have provided more specific directions on how the farm was to be managed, utilized and distributed across generations.
Using an LLC. The mother could have transferred the farm into an LLC (Limited Liability Company) and heirs would have inherited the LLC. Provisions could have been added to prevent partition and allow the farm’s sale only if at least a majority of the family agreed to the sale.
Maintaining multi-generational entities, such as family farms, closely held businesses, real estate and other assets, requires skilled estate planning. To keep a farm or business in the family requires an experienced estate planning attorney with knowledge of how to protect both short-term and long-term goals.
Reference: Morning Ag Clips (March 6, 2026) “How Inadequate Estate Planning Led to Likely Sale of Family Farm”