Drafting Wills for Farming Clients - Protecting Reliefs, Businesses & Family Succession

Introduction

Agricultural estates are among the most complex areas of private client work - combining land ownership, partnerships, tenancies, business assets, development opportunities, family expectations and valuable inheritance tax reliefs.

Without careful succession planning, a poorly drafted will can put Agricultural Property Relief (‘APR’), Business Property Relief (‘BPR’), partnership succession arrangements and even the future viability of the farming business at risk. More often than not, the greatest problems arise not from tax itself, but from unclear intentions, family conflict, unequal treatment of children and wills that fail to reflect how the farm actually operates.

This webinar will help practitioners draft wills for farming clients with greater confidence and clarity. It will explore how to preserve key tax reliefs, avoid common drafting pitfalls and manage sensitive family and business dynamics effectively.

The webinar will also cover recent developments affecting agricultural estates, including diversification projects, renewable energy arrangements, development land, environmental schemes and increasingly modern farming structures.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• Recognising the unique legal, commercial and family dynamics within farming estates
• Understanding common ownership structures, including sole ownership, partnerships, companies and trusts
• Reviewing partnership agreements and ensuring they align with testamentary intentions
• Identifying situations where partnership agreements may override the terms of a will
• Preserving Agricultural Property Relief (‘APR’) and Business Property Relief (‘BPR’)
• Assessing how diversification activities can affect the availability of tax reliefs
• Understanding the succession and tax implications of renewable energy projects
• Advising on development land, ‘hope value’ and associated estate planning risks
• Managing succession planning within farming families sensitively and effectively
• Balancing fairness and equality between farming and non-farming children
• Avoiding pitfalls arising from lifetime gifting and reservation of benefit rules
• Dealing with occupation rights and housing arrangements on agricultural property
• Understanding succession issues affecting tenant farmers and Agricultural Holdings Act tenancies
• Advising on Farm Business Tenancies and related succession considerations
• Drafting life interest and discretionary trusts for farming clients
• Addressing jointly owned land and severance of joint tenancy issues
• Incorporating practical drafting provisions tailored to farming estates
• Reducing the risk of disputes between farming and non-farming beneficiaries
• Identifying capacity and undue influence concerns in agricultural succession matters
• Maintaining effective records and attendance notes in high-risk family situations
• Developing practical approaches to emotionally sensitive succession discussions

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Monday 25th January 2027

Alternatively, you can gain access to this webinar and 2,400+ others via the MBL Webinar Subscription. Please email webinarsubscription@mblseminars.com for more details.