In this Elder Law Minute, Kaye Dent explains how DCEL can help you make a plan that covers long term care costs while also protecting your farmland.
Video Transcript:
Hi, I’m Kaye DeSelms Dent with Dent Coulson Elder Law. Here with an elder law minute for you. These videos are intended to educate you about the Elder Care Journey, which begins earlier in life than you might think. We hope that you find them useful, and if you have further questions, please call us at Dent Coulson Elder Law.
Dent Coulson Elder Law operates in Southern and Central Illinois where there’s plenty of farmland, and we deal with plenty of farm families. As any farm family knows, farmland has gone up in value tremendously, so it’s not uncommon for our farm clients to face estate tax issues where many other clients do not. Right now, the federal estate tax exemption is about 12 and a half million dollars per person. But if you own farmland, it’s not that difficult to have 12 and a half million dollars as a single person or 25 million dollars as a couple invested in farmland.
One of the sad issues we see is situations where a family might have good value in farmland but be limited on other assets or even be limited on cash flow. And then, one person gets sick and needs long-term care. The family thinks, well, we can sell some farmland to pay for the care. The problem is that if you sell farmland while you’re alive or really any asset while you’re alive, you could be facing capital gains tax. And with farmland, you can almost be certain if you’ve had it for a long time, there’s going to be a capital gains tax hit.
So, we like to work with our clients’ CPAs, especially in these situations, and their financial advisors and find ways to protect the value of the farmland and to make certain that care can be provided without putting the farmland at risk. In most cases, of course, our clients want to pass along the farmland to future generations. And then, we have to be concerned about not just preserving it so that it’s there to pass along, but also defining succession and control of the farmland.
It’s not unusual for one child or maybe two children in tandem to be the heirs apparent to the farming operation. But if that’s not properly delineated in carefully crafted estate planning documents, that succession and control might not be passed along as intended. So, for more discussion on your situation involving these concerns and more concerning farmland, call us at Dent Coulson Elder Law.
Also looking for information about Medicaid and Asset Preservation? Visit these articles:
“Your Trusted Advisor on the Elder Care Journey”
Dent-Coulson Elder Law is dedicated to providing families in the St. Louis area with their Elder Law needs. Our practice areas include Asset Preservation Planning, Veterans Benefits, Medicaid Eligibility, Alzheimer’s Planning, Special Needs Planning, Estate Planning and more. We understand the financial challenges you may face as you and your loved ones grow older. At Dent-Coulson Elder Law, our clients’ well-being is our number one priority. For immediate help, call (618) 632-7000 (IL) or (314) 567-9292 (MO), or Contact Us and we will get in touch as soon as possible.
