Finding Peace - Not Fair vs. Equal
When farm and ranch families sit down and build an estate plan, the question of fair vs. equal almost always comes up. And that’s never an easy conversation. Keep Farmers Farming Legacy Director Alan Hojer believes there’s another word that deserves a place at the table - peace.
“I think that’s what we are all looking for is peace. It has nothing to do with equal and fair. It’s the parents to give and nobody’s to take. If the parents are at peace, then it was fair,” says Alan Hojer.
Hojer says every family starts out in a place where things feel equal. But as kids grow, choose careers, and build their own lives, parents naturally support each child in different ways. “How the parents reconcile that and find peace is what is fair. It has nothing to do with what equal looks like from a balance sheet perspective,'“ says Alan.
As the senior generation begins transitioning the farm or ranch, Hojer says their focus is almost always on taking care of the business they’ve built. “They really need to do that because that’s what gives them peace. Then we can look at how do we also find peace with the others. But they need to reconcile this one first. Then after that, we will figure out how to deal with the rest. And there’s different ways to do that,” shares Alan.
Keep Farmers Farming works alongside ag families to create estate and transition plans that bring peace to the founders. And when parents can share those plans with their adult children, it gives everyone clarity and time to prepare. Hojer says it may be an imperfect journey, but transparency is a gift all on its own.
Learn more about the Keep Farmers Farming program here.
Taken from a conversation with Pam Geppert from Dakota Farm Talk.