Farm and ranch estate planning workshops at Ogallala, Sidney, Gering, and Oshkosh

Farm and Ranch Estate and Transition Planning workshops are scheduled for January in Ogallala, Sidney, Gering and Oshkosh.

The program will be presented by Dave Goeller of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Beginning Farmer Program Coordinator and Joe Hawbaker, agricultural law attorney.

Dates and locations:

• Jan. 14, Ogallala: Valentino’s Restaurant, 55 River Road

• Jan. 15, Sidney: Cheyenne County Community Center, 627 Toledo St., sponsored by PointsWest Community Bank and Insurance of Sidney, Dalton, Kimball and Chappell.

• Jan. 16, Gering: Gering Civic Center, 1050 M St., sponsored by Platte Valley Companies.

• Jan. 17, Oshkosh: Wesleyan Church.

For site information, other questions or to register, call the Rural Response Hotline at 1-800-464-0258. The workshop will run from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at each location. There is no charge and lunch will be provided. Registrations should be made two days in advance of the workshop you want to attend. Walk-ins will be accepted, but meals and materials are not guaranteed for unregistered participants.

Sponsors are the Nebraska Network for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers, the Farm and Ranch Project of Legal Aid Nebraska, the Risk Management Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture’s Farm Mediation, and University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension.

The workshop offers a reliable, useful discussion of business, family and tax issues involved in passing on the family farm or ranch, and the legal tools that are used to address issues such as how to get ready to make a plan; how to review an existing plan; how to be a good consumer of legal and estate planning services; what others have done; and how it has worked.

Topics include determining goals, family dynamics and expectations in a business setting, financial viability, the transfer process, estate and gift tax, inheritance tax, efficient methods of transfer, probate, wills, trusts, titling, basis, long-term care, Medicaid, powers of attorney, and use of entities.

A speaker will share information about the limited liability company (LLC): what it is, how it’s formed, and how it is used. Information will be presented on LLC operating agreements, as well as using the LLC to keep the family farm or ranch going between generations, to protect assets from creditors and family circumstances, to separate ownership and control of assets, and in estate and gift tax planning.