Inheriting a farm with siblings: what if one wants to sell? For an Illinois family, that question can turn a shared inheritance into a difficult conversation about money, memories, and someone’s livelihood. One sibling may depend on the farm for income. Another may live several states away and need their inheritance to pay bills or prepare for retirement. Neither position …
For parents whose wealth is tied up in farmland, providing for every child while preserving the operation can be one of the hardest parts of succession planning. You may have one child who wants to continue farming and others who have built lives elsewhere. You want the operation to survive, but you also want every child to know they matter. …
Who inherits the family farm in Illinois when one child farms and the others don’t? The child who works the land does not automatically inherit it. Without a plan, Illinois inheritance law may determine who receives an interest in the farm, while leaving the family to sort out who will operate it. That can be difficult when one child’s livelihood …
When Siblings Inherit the Family Farm and Disagree: Can Mediation Keep the Farm Together? It is a question many agricultural families face after the death of a parent or grandparent. One sibling may have spent decades working on the farm and want to continue the operation. Another may live out of state and prefer to sell. A third may want …
Can Mediation Resolve Illinois Farm Boundary, Drainage, Easement, and Access Disputes? For farmers and agricultural landowners, a disagreement with a neighbor can become much more than a strained relationship. A disputed property line can affect where crops are planted. A blocked access route can interfere with equipment movement. Drainage changes can affect productive acreage. An easement disagreement can create uncertainty …
Should a Family Farm Have a Buy-Sell Agreement? What Happens When an Owner Dies, Divorces, or Wants Out? is a question farm families should consider long before an ownership change becomes urgent. A family farming operation may involve parents, siblings, children, cousins, or multiple generations who own land or interests in an LLC or other business entity together. Everyone may …
2027 Illinois Farm Leases: What Landowners and Farmers Should Negotiate Before Harvest Ends is a conversation many Illinois farmers and farmland owners should be having before the combines are parked for the season. Farm lease discussions often happen in the fall, but waiting until the last minute can leave both sides rushing through important decisions involving rent, expenses, improvements, conservation …
7 Farm Succession Planning Mistakes That Can Tear a Family Apart addresses a problem many farm families quietly postpone. Parents, farming children, and off-farm siblings may each hold different expectations about what will happen. When those expectations are never discussed or documented, grief can quickly become conflict. Farm succession planning should coordinate land ownership, management, retirement, incapacity planning, equipment, leases, …
In this installment of Ask Sam and Kendal, Rincker Law, PLLC associate attorneys Sam Ellis and Kendal A. Schoepfer explain why transferring a farm to an LLC or trust became an important legal question after the federal government’s Residential Real Estate Reporting Rule took effect on March 1, 2026. Below, we explore “Could Transferring a Farm to an LLC or …
The Illinois Farmer’s Annual Legal Checklist: What to Review Each Season can help farm owners address legal and business issues before they become expensive problems. Farming rarely leaves much time for paperwork, but contracts, leases, insurance policies, employment records, succession plans, and business filings should not be ignored until a dispute or emergency occurs. Dividing these reviews by season can …
Planning for Divorce as a Farm Owner in Illinois: Protecting Your Agricultural Operation is an important step for agricultural families who want to preserve their land, business, and financial stability. Divorce can have significant consequences for Illinois farm owners because farmland is often one of the most valuable marital assets. For families in Champaign, Springfield, Bloomington, Decatur, Shelbyville, Effingham, and …
If you own farmland in Central Illinois, you may be asking yourself: Should I Put My Farm in an LLC in Illinois? This is one of the most common and practical legal questions farm families raise when thinking about liability protection, succession planning, and long-term stability. The answer depends on your goals, but in many situations, forming an LLC can …