Rusty Rumley: Avoid Headaches—Have a Farm Succession Plan
10/09/2025
Rusty Rumley is the Senior Staff Attorney for the National Ag Law Center in Arkansas. He recently shared an update on the effect that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) will have on estate and succession planning for families and businesses. One of the major provisions of the bill is the permanent increase to the unified credit to $15 million per individual starting in 2026, indexed to inflation moving forward.
Rumley reports, “Without the change to the unified credit, the credit would have sunset back to the 2018 amount of $5 million per individual. Adjusted for inflation, this would be around $7 million in today’s money.” He also shared, “For estates over the amount of the unified credit, the maximum estate tax rate is 40% of the net worth that exceeds the current unified credit.”
Even for many average farmers, this amount can be rapidly expended due to the high value of farmland and equipment.
Along with this important and timely information concerning the development of an estate plan, he also stresses that the family business needs a plan for who will be running the operation if something happens to the principal operator. There needs to be a well-defined plan in the event that the operator is incapacitated for the immediate future, or they pass away unexpectedly.
Succession planning is essential for any family business, regardless of the value of their assets. Most family businesses have a legacy of generations of production and an accumulation of wealth that deserves to be managed and transitioned in a manner that protects their heritage for generations to come.
To read Rusty Rumley’s full article, go to: https://www.farmprogress.com/management/having-a-farm-succession-plan-saves-your-family-a-headache
Rusty Rumley will be one of the speakers at the American Society of Agricultural Consultant’s (ASAC) Annual Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana that runs from November 2-4. For more information about the conference, our tour stops and the extensive list of its many highly acclaimed speakers, go to https://www.agconsultants.org/2025_annual_conference.php
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This article is the opinion and perspective of the author and may or may not be consistent with those of anyone else. Mention of specific people or items in the article is not an endorsement of the individual, the company or the organization from which it originates.
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Don Tyler
Tyler & Associates
ASAC Board Member
Rusty Rumley is the Senior Staff Attorney for the National Ag Law Center in Arkansas. He recently shared an update on the effect that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) will have on estate and succession planning for families and businesses. One of the major provisions of the bill is the permanent increase to the unified credit to $15 million per individual starting in 2026, indexed to inflation moving forward.
Rumley reports, “Without the change to the unified credit, the credit would have sunset back to the 2018 amount of $5 million per individual. Adjusted for inflation, this would be around $7 million in today’s money.” He also shared, “For estates over the amount of the unified credit, the maximum estate tax rate is 40% of the net worth that exceeds the current unified credit.”
Even for many average farmers, this amount can be rapidly expended due to the high value of farmland and equipment.
Along with this important and timely information concerning the development of an estate plan, he also stresses that the family business needs a plan for who will be running the operation if something happens to the principal operator. There needs to be a well-defined plan in the event that the operator is incapacitated for the immediate future, or they pass away unexpectedly.
Succession planning is essential for any family business, regardless of the value of their assets. Most family businesses have a legacy of generations of production and an accumulation of wealth that deserves to be managed and transitioned in a manner that protects their heritage for generations to come.
To read Rusty Rumley’s full article, go to: https://www.farmprogress.com/management/having-a-farm-succession-plan-saves-your-family-a-headache
Rusty Rumley will be one of the speakers at the American Society of Agricultural Consultant’s (ASAC) Annual Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana that runs from November 2-4. For more information about the conference, our tour stops and the extensive list of its many highly acclaimed speakers, go to https://www.agconsultants.org/2025_annual_conference.php
= = = = =
This article is the opinion and perspective of the author and may or may not be consistent with those of anyone else. Mention of specific people or items in the article is not an endorsement of the individual, the company or the organization from which it originates.
= = = = = = = = =
Don Tyler
Tyler & Associates
ASAC Board Member
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