For many farm and ranch families, bringing children or grandchildren into the operation is the ultimate goal. Successfully bringing additional family members into the operation may require some creativity as all parties need to maintain a viable standard of living. This is part of a series of articles that highlight ideas and tactics for bringing another family member into the operation. If this is the first article you are seeing in this series, I would encourage you to go back to the previous articles for background and additional guidance.

In a previous article, we discussed gifting as a tactic to transfer wealth between generations. Simply gifting assets helps reduce estate value and potential taxes for the owners and increase the wealth of the heirs. However, some families are hesitant to engage in gifting strategies because the farm or the ranch needs access to those assets to remain viable. This article expands on gifting strategies by combining gifts with a lease agreement.

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