About this episode

The episode discusses tax and legal strategies for farm transition with insights from experts Will McKinley and Pat Sturz.

On the Uplevel Dairy Podcast, Peggy Coffeen concludes a three-part Farm Forward listener Q&A series with Will McKinley of Menn Law and Pat Sturz, a retired CPA and longtime agriculture tax advisor, discussing why legal and tax planning must be integrated in farm succession. They explain how farm growth and asset write-offs can create future tax problems, why “sell the farm on a land contract” can trigger unexpected upfront taxes due to different asset classes, and how early planning, entity choice, and large early gifting can improve outcomes. They highlight tools like profits interests to share future growth or reward key employees without immediate income tax, strategies like “shadow” partnership entities to move assets out of C corps over time, and the role of stepped-up basis at death. They close with key mistakes, priorities, and the need for readiness and clarity about who will be involved and retirement cash needs. Contact Will McKinley or Pat Sturz at Menn Law William-McKinley@mennlaw.com (920) 731-6631 pat_sturz@mennlaw.com 715-586-0050 Learn more at https://mennlaw.com/ Do you have a question on succession and farm transition you would like to hear Will answer on…

People in this episode

Host: Peggy Coffeen

Guests: Will McKinley, Pat Sturz

Topics covered

• farm transition
• tax strategies
• legal planning
• succession planning
• asset management
• retirement planning

Keywords

• farm succession
• tax planning
• legal strategies
• entity choice
• gifting
• profits interests
• shadow partnership
• retirement cash needs

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Menn Law, Uplevel Dairy Podcast

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