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Intergenerational Farm Transfer Workshops in Delaware

Laurie Wolinski

Summary

Delaware farmers, a population whose average age is 55 years, are faced with pressure of considering estate planning and/or how to transfer their farm to the next generation. Farm families who have a “next generation” to takeover the family farm, often find estate planning or the intergenerational transfer of the farm process a daunting task. Issues they may face include: selling to development vs. preserving/farming the land, division of labor and decision making responsibilities among generations, division of the estate, and parent’s retirement security.

This project’s objective is to educate Delaware farm families about the many aspects of managing their estate from estate planning to intergenerational transfer of the farm operation during day-long workshops. Topics that will be emphasized include wills and trusts, gifting, family dynamics and communication, tax ramifications, equitable distribution of assets, intergenerational farm transition options, and managing the transition. A pre and post workshop self assessment will be conducted among workshop participants.

Prior to the workshops, Delaware farm families will be surveyed. The confidential mail survey has two goals: to prompt the families to think about transferring their farm (and where they are in the process), and to provide workshop presenters an understanding of where many Delaware farm families are in the process. Summarized information from the surveys will also serve as teaching tool to create awareness about how families have approached the process.

This poster will highlight the results of the pre-workshop mail survey, as well as the results of pre and post workshop self assessments.

Details

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