OSU Extension’s Ag Manager Team has lots of estate planning information

The Ohio Ag Manager Team was started in 2005 by OSU Extension to help Ohio farmers with their farm management questions. Our outreach efforts include offering farm management workshops, authoring informational fact sheets and publishing a monthly newsletter located at: http://ohioagmanager.osu.edu/.

Here are a few of items our team is currently working on for Ohio farmers.

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Estate planning

One of the efforts of the Ohio Ag Manager Team has been to help farmers with farm succession and estate planning.

A farm’s succession and estate plans should be constantly monitored because of continual changes in the farm business, family situation and state and federal laws.

Annual visit to attorney

Farmers need to schedule an annual check-up with their attorneys to make sure that the estate plans they have will are meeting their stated objectives.

This is especially important this year as on Jan. 1, 2013, the federal estate tax exemption will be reduced from $5 million to $1 million and the Ohio estate tax will be repealed.

To help farmers stay abreast on the changes, OSU Extension has revised the basic estate planning fact sheet series. Fact sheets include:

• Costs involved in transferring property

• tax basis if property is transferred

• why have a will?

• letter of instruction, life insurance, trusts, giving, sale of residence, the nursing home dilemma, and Medicare and Medigap.

These revised factsheets have been published and are available at http://ohioline.osu.edu/ep-fact/index.html.

Other tools

Other OSU Extension Farm Succession factsheets can be located at: http://ohioline.osu.edu/bst-fact/index.html.

Some of the available of the factsheets include: whole farm planning model; a comparison of business entities available to Ohio farmers; conducting a SWOT analysis of your agricultural business; conducting successful family business transition meetings; developing the next generation of managers;

Planning for the successful transition of your agricultural business; starting, organizing, and managing an LLC for a farm business; tax characteristics of business entities available to Ohio farmers; using liability limiting entities to manage liability exposure for Ohio farms; and is a prenuptial agreement right for your farm business?

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Tax preparers

Beginning Jan. 1, 2011, all paid preparers must have a Preparer Tax Identification Number. Existing PTIN holders must pass a competency exam by the end of 2013.

Attorneys, certified public accounts and enrolled agents are exempt from the testing requirement. In addition to a competency exam, IRS Registered Tax Return Preparers will be required to take continuing education in the future.

The Ohio Ag Manager team is offering assistance for individuals who are preparing to take the new Registered Tax Return Preparer (RTRP) competency test in 2012.

We will be offering four one-day preparatory workshops across Ohio in August and September. These workshops will be held on: OSU Extension Office (Bowling Green, Ohio) Aug. 28; Bridgewater Banquet and Conference Center (Powell, Ohio) Aug. 29; Kings Island Conference Center (Mason, Ohio) Sept. 5; and Geauga County Extension Office (Burton, Ohio) Sept. 6.

Study materials. Learn from OSU and IRS Instructors at these workshops and get study materials and on-line test bank as a bonus.

There are three registrations options for the workshop.

The first is $100 for the day long preparatory workshop only. The second option is $199, which includes the workshop, study guide and access to the 200 question test bank. The third option is $279, which includes the day-long preparatory workshop, study guide, access to a 700-question test bank and unlimited practice exams.

The workshops are approved by the IRS Return Preparer Office for eight hours of CE credit in the category of “RTRP Test Preparation.” Lunch, program handouts, FastForward Study Guide, on-line test bank, and refreshments are included.

Registration must be completed (postmarked or via web) by midnight, Aug. 15. There is an additional $20 late registration fee. Registration is available on-line at: http://go.osu.edu/RTRP .