Are one or more of the potential heirs considering or have no interest in the farm? There are three steps.

When a farmer passes away, one, all or none of the children may have an interest in the farm. That makes planning seem difficult.  However, in reality there are only three steps to consider, according to Agriculture.com in "3 Steps To Succession Planning."

The steps include:

• Communicate with family members about what you want to happen to your farm after you pass away and figure out what your family expects to happen. This is especially important when children are not interested in farming, so their inheritance expectations can be known and taken into account.
• Try to determine what tools are available to meet your goals. If you can modify a lease agreement to help meet your goals, then that may be an available tool.
• The last thing to do is to determine your legal options. This is where a good estate planning attorney comes into play. The attorney will listen to your goals and figure how to meet them. What that will look like, will vary because every family farm is different.

Reference: Agriculture.com (March 8, 2018) "3 Steps To Succession Planning."