SDSU Extension to host farm, ranch estate planning series in December in Pierre
South Dakota State University Extension is excited to announce its upcoming estate planning and farm transition workshops for 2024-2025.
Sustaining the Legacy – Estate Planning and Farm Transitions conferences will start in November in Rapid City. There will also be conferences in December in Pierre, January in Watertown, February in Aberdeen, and March in Mitchell. Each conference lasts three days.
Registration is required, and tickets are $70. For full conference dates and to register for the one nearest you, visit extension.sdstate.edu/events and search "legacy".
The conference provides farmers and ranchers with three days of information on creating their plan, no matter how big or small the operation. All members involved in the operation are encouraged to attend together.
Attendees will learn how to pass their operation on to the next generation, develop a fair estate plan for all heirs, reduce family friction due to the transition of assets, maintain privacy and fulfill their goals for the operation. They will learn how to evaluate the taxes that affect the operation, including income tax, capital gains tax, gift tax and federal estate tax.
The conference will also cover business structures, goals, wills and probate, retirement planning and funding, fair versus equal distribution, life insurance, long-term care insurance and trusts.
Estate values in South Dakota have climbed in recent years as land and equipment values increased. The combination of aging owners and increased estate values often means the next generation cannot afford to buy an operation outright without a business plan, purchase plan, and/or estate plan, said Heather Gessner, SDSU Extension Livestock Business Management Field Specialist.
"Every South Dakotan has an estate plan, whether they created it intentionally or not," Gessner said. "Producers have invested years in their operation. I know three days is a lot to be away from the farm, but I encourage them to consider it an investment in your operation's future. Just like the time you invest selecting your next herd sire or seed variety."
She noted the December 2025 estate tax law reversion and how it affects the federal estate tax exemption amount, portability, and reporting as another reason for families to evaluate their plans. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 set the federal estate tax rate at $11.18 million with increases for inflation, setting the 2024 individual federal estate tax exemption at $13.61 million or $27.22 million for a married couple. If the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 is allowed to expire, the exemption rate will return to approximately $6 million.
"Considering the average value of farmland, the price of equipment, value grain in storage or livestock on hand, this lower exemption rate may open up producers to paying federal estate tax again," Gessner said.
