Farm Finance: Protecting yourself when it comes to farm transfers

Rural accountant Kieran Coughlan explores how those transferring farms to the next generation can ensure they are protected too.

The transfer of a family farm to the next generation comes with a lot of emotions: happiness that there is someone to take on the baton, perhaps a degree of sadness that one’s time is done, and also an undercurrent of fear can exist. 

Undoubtedly, the transfer of a family farm to the next generation comes with a lot of emotions: happiness that there is someone to take on the baton, perhaps a degree of sadness that one’s time is done, and also an undercurrent of fear can exist. 

The emotion of fear can stem from a variety of strands, such as whether the successor will do their part in holding onto the farm asset, or will it be squandered; whether as a transferor, will you have enough income and financial security to see our your days, but also fear as to what would happen the farm in the event of marital breakdown of the successor or indeed the untimely death of a successor.