6 One Generation to the Next STEPS TO MAKE SUCCESSION PLANNING A PAINLESS PROCESS. to some major tax ramifi cations for the family farm,” says the former Wisconsin loan offi cer who has seven siblings, most living near the home farm. “I initiated discussion with Dad and my siblings, and we agreed to hire a professional succession planner to lead us through the process.” Haas admits the process took longer than expected. “But after a couple meetings, we had goals and a timeline in place, then started working on the legal documents. Beginning to end, it took about a year,” he says. “Farmers should expect a formal succession plan to take at least six months to a year or longer to complete,” says Steve Hamilton, Nationwide Insurance consultant who specializes in transition planning. Nationwide is a leading insurer of family farms and ranches and a business partner with CHS. Ask most farmers about their succession plans and you’ll likely get an outright blank stare followed by, “Yeah, I know I need to get started.” Without a doubt, getting started is the biggest hurdle, says Dean Haas, Hortonville, Wis., who in 1996 helped launch transition planning on the family’s western Minnesota farm. “It came out of necessity after my mother died with farmland in her name. That could have led By Greg Lamp > Your CHS Connection 7