Ian Woodhead

Everyone should have a will and revise it regularly – this is particularly true for farmers whose ‘succession planning’ can be complex and costly. Yorkshire farmer Ian Woodhead took action after special succession planning advisory session arranged by Milbank Consulting with funding from LandSkills Yorkshire and Humber.

Succession Planning

"You can secure the inheritance and stop the Treasury getting their hands on too much."

 

Make a Will

Following training Ian updated his will and financial arrangements.

He urges other farmers to do the same - otherwise their successors might end up paying inheritance tax and other costs unnecessarily.

Ian said he was interested in the session because it was about succession and death duties.

“You’re asked where you are with your paperwork in legal terms - if you’re not straight the taxman gets hold of the inheritance. I already had plans afoot and had a will, but that was last updated seven years ago so I’ve done it all again. You’re supposed to review every three years.”

Every farmer’s circumstances will be different, depending on whether they own or rent land and property, which family members work on the farm, and who will inherit what. There are many ways to plan and mitigate the burden of inheritance tax.

Ian Woodhead’s circumstances are unusual. The farm came to him through his mother, rather than the traditional male line.

Today he is sole owner of 600 acres and rents another 2000, some 1400 acres of which are moorland. The livestock comprises 1400 breeding ewes and 130 cows in calf with single sucklers, plus another 800 cattle bought in for fattening each year. The business also incorporates rental properties and the airstrip and storage hangers.

Ian has been farming for 35 years but says he’s always keen to learn something new, which is why he attended the succession planning event.

“There are all sorts of laws and rules and it woke me up to what needed doing. That meeting has done me a lot of good. You’re there to listen, learn and then act. You can secure the inheritance and stop the Treasury getting their hands on too much if things aren’t done properly. I admit if I hadn’t gone to the meeting, things might not have got done - you have to make time to do this and you don’t have to do a lot to save a lot. I’ve tied up all the loose ends.”