Farm Law and Ag Law Blog

Medicaid – What is it and why should you (and your farm) should care? Our law firm frequently gets calls from clients wanting to inquire about making a Last Will and Testament or appointing someone as Power of Attorney.   This is quite often prompted by the death of a loved one, the diagnosis of an unexpected illness, or being told of a negative estate experience by a friend or neighbor.   Estate planning at any stage of life is something we would always encourage, but there is an aspect of planning that we often times find overlooked and that is planning in advance for Medicaid. There is much confusion about not only the difference between Medicare and Medicaid, but how and what each program covers specifically.   For the purposes of this article, we will be focusing the discussion on long term care needs such as the expense of a nursing home.   For that discussion, the only important thing to note about Medicare, including Medicare supplement insurance, is t...

               I have read farm magazines for the vast majority of my life and still do.   Although I do most reading via the internet, there’s something about reading a printed farm magazine that I just can’t get out of my system.   Prior to the last five years or so, I don’t recall seeing a lot of “farm retirement” auction advertisements.   Sure, they were there, but they seem to have picked up during the last downturn in the farm economy.    I figured it was a lot of farmers who did not care to weather another economic downturn.   Seeing that we’ve now had 2-3 years of better years, and the retirement auctions have not subsided, perhaps even increased, I’m not so sure my thinking was correct.   Actually, using the word “retirement” and “farmer” in the same sentence was rare in years past.               What I have noticed is the difference be...

      (Note: This is part 5 of a 5-part series regarding the authors’ view that farm estate planning in this country is broken and needs fixed, especially in light of “Farm Estate Armageddon” that will happen this decade when ¼ of all farmers retire and 2/3 of all farmers will be over the age of 65.   Past articles can be viewed at www.farmlegacy.blogspot.com .               The year was 2007.   I was 2 years into practicing law and once a month my dad and I would meet with fellow farmers at a neighboring farm to discuss grain marketing.   A grain marketer, Steve, would facilitate the meetings.   For as long as I live, I will never forget a particular meeting when Steve showed up and passed out a packet of information that centered on the coming ethanol boom and how it would change things.   Steve looked at us and said “Boys, be glad you bought ground when you did”.   Steve als...