Farm and small business estate planning class begins Jan. 16

Do you want to be in charge of who gets your assets after you’re gone? Are you concerned about what your estate will cost your heirs? What are the best tools available to plan your estate?

These and other questions will be answered at the Farm and Small Business Estate Planning Workshop, 6-9 p.m. on Jan. 16, 23, 30 and Feb. 6.

The workshops will be held via ITV at four sites:

• Brookfield Area Career Center, 122 Pershing Road, Brookfield.
• Clark County R-1 High School ITV lab, 680 E. Main St., Kahoka.
• Grand River Technical School, 1200 Fair St., Chillicothe.
• Louisiana High School ITV room, 3321W. Georgia St., Louisiana.

Each site will have a local facilitator to assist people. The cost to attend is $50 per person or $60 per couple or single business entity (one set of materials). Pre-registration is required by Jan. 11.

“Because farmers and businesses have some unique estate issues, these sessions are geared to their specific needs,” says Joe Koenen, agricultural business specialist with University of Missouri Extension and one of the developers and presenters of the workshop series.

“The major increase in asset values, especially land, in the last several years and the recent law discussions at the Federal level have made this topic even more critical of late,” Koenen said.

Assisting in teaching the workshops will be MU Extension agricultural business specialists Darla Campbell and Karisha Devlin, who helped develop this program. Karl DeMarce, an associate circuit court judge from Scotland County, will discuss probate in Missouri.

Session topics:

• Session 1: Why Plan Your Estate; Who Should Be Involved; What Materials You’ll Need; Property Ownership and Business Organization; and Choosing Advisors, including Attorneys.
• Session 2: Probate Here in Missouri; Estate and Gift Taxes; Communication Issues with Family and Others; and An Introduction to Estate Planning Tools.
• Session 3: Probate with Judge DeMarce.
• Session 4: Estate Planning Tools and where to go from here.

Participants will need to attend all four sessions of this class.

Registration fees include materials and refreshments.

To pre-register, contact Joe Koenen at 660-947-2705 or [email protected]. Space is limited.