Your Estate - What Property? What Rights?

This last article of the Your Estate series explains the two basic kinds of proprerty and outlines the types of rights of ownership in property that form the base for sound planning of an estate and other property transfers

How Estates Are Settled

This is the first of a series of articles about the procedures necessary or available in settling an estate, in transferring property before or after death and about the different purposes and needs for these procedures

If You Have a Will

Only by making a will or some other advance property transfer arrangement can a person set up his own laws of descent and make sure that his wishes for the distribution of his property will be carried out after his death

What Costs for Settlement?

Besides tax costs, what other kinds of costs are involved in settling an estate? This fifth article in the series deals with these, how to anticipate them and also with the importance of financial liquidity of an estate

Saving Taxes by Planning

While tax savings alone should never be the only basis for a careful plan, here are some points of tax law and some of the tax-saving principles that may be helpful to you in planning your estate and property distribution

Is Your Farm Lease Legal?

During the coming weeks, thousands of Iowa landlords and tenants will enter into new leasing arrangements or renew old ones for the 1951 crop year. These arrangements are important to Iowa\u27s agricultrual well-being. They contain the terms which specify

Your Lease- Is It Legal?

Thousands of Iowa landlords and tenants are renewing old leases or entering into new leasing agreements for the coming year. Here is an opportunity to examine the leasing arrangement to see if it serves the desires of both parties and is consistent with Iowa laws

Transferring farm property within families in Iowa

An increasing number of Iowa farm-owning parents and their children are searching for satisfactory means of transferring the home farm to the next generation. The manner in which these transfers are carried out will have profound influences upon the welfare of Iowa\u27s farm families and upon the stability of the state\u27s agriculture. Many factors conditioning the choice of means for transferring farm property within families are economic and social in nature; but the means for effecting the transfers are largely legal. Consequently, Iowa State College and the State University of Iowa College of Law have teamed up to make this analysis of intra-family farm transfers and to outline various methods of transferring farm property. Funds to help carry out the study were provided by the Iowa State College Agricultural Foundation

Planning farm property transfers within families in Iowa

One of every two Iowa farm owners has received family assistance in acquiring ownership of their farm resources. These intrafamily farm transfers appear to be increasing throughout the state. This trend is in keeping with farm transfer experiences in older parts of this country as well as in the western European countries from which our farm property system evolved. Sooner or later all farm-owning parents and their children must face the problems of transferring the home farm within the family. These problems arise out of the inevitable processes of life and death and the continuity of rights in farm property. Because of the inevitability of death, farm-owning parents and their children are faced with the problem of bridging the gap between generations in providing for the transfer of farm property within the family. Fortunately, an increasing number of farm families are becoming concerned with intrafamily farm transfer problems and are searching for satisfactory ways of planning for the transfer of their farm property. There are several reasons for this increased interest. First, more Iowa farmers than ever before own their farms. Around 62 percent of Iowa\u27s farmers own part or all of the land they operate. Second, Iowa farm owners have larger equities in their farms than ever before. Farm owners\u27 equities in their land are around 89 percent of the value of their land and buildings. Third, more farm estates are being subjected to higher estate, gift and inheritance taxes, primarily as a result of increased farm values. Fourth, progressive income taxes encourage farm owners to consider the tax-saving possibilities of distributing their property within their families. Fifth, today\u27s parents are interested in avoiding some of the errors made by their parents in transferring farm property within their family. Sixth, children are anxious to obtain reasonable assurance of what to expect in the way of family ’ financial resources in planning for their future in farming