Agriculture: the riskiest sector to work in but less than 50% of farmers have a will

An informal poll at a recent succession planning webinar for NFU farmers, showed that only 17 out of 40 participants had a will, despite agriculture being considered one of the most dangerous sectors to work in.

This result is consistent with the national statistic that less than 50% of adults in the UK have a will in place.

National law firm Clarke Willmott LLP are encouraging farmers to write a will, particularly because of the complexities around family businesses and succession planning for farming families.

Tom Chiffers, a partner in Clarke Willmott’s Private Client team, said: “With high numbers of fatal injury, the agriculture sector is widely recognised as one of the most dangerous, which is why it was so surprising to discover that so few farmers attending our latest webinar had a will in place, particularly as the average age of a farmer is 59.

“Farming businesses are also notoriously complex and we are currently in a period of great change following Brexit and the government’s ongoing Agricultural Transition Plan (ATP). We expect to see a significant drop in funding for all farmers at the end of 2027 so there are many compelling reasons for farmers to get their affairs in order now.

“We are urging farmers to take the simple steps to write a will to protect their loved ones and their business.”

The ATP outlines a timescale to change the way farming is funded, managed and incentivised which will have a significant impact on the income of farms and the farming industry.

The support payments farmers currently receive in the form of BPS will start to be phased out from 2021, becoming delinked in 2024 and eventually getting replaced with a system which pays farmers for specific types of environmental land management.

Tom continued: “In addition to the ATP, the government has also been applying greater scrutiny to both inheritance tax and capital gains tax and given its pandemic spending, there are concerns that the generous inheritance tax reliefs currently available to farmers in the form of Business Property Relief and Agricultural Property Relief could be cut or even abolished to help pay for the furlough scheme and other COVID-19 support schemes.

“All of this means that farmers need to be in a state of financial and legal preparedness with a robust succession plan in place which should include the right kind of will.”

The recent webinar led by Tom, in association with the NFU, focussed on succession planning and the firm’s new Which Will? tool. A free service developed to help people planning to make or update a will, the tool prompts the user to think about what is important to them when making a will and recommends which will best meets their needs.

Andi Witcombe, NFU County Adviser for Wiltshire, said: “As the ATP begins to deliver all-encompassing changes to farm support there has never been a more important time to make sure your farm business is fit for the future.

“We were delighted to partner with Tom and the team at Clarke Willmott to help our members recognise the need to ensure their will is also fit for the future, and to highlight the Which Will tool as a fantastic starting point.

“We continue to encourage all farmers to start open and honest discussions with family and business partners about succession if they haven’t done so already – sooner really is far better than later.”

Clarke Willmott is a national law firm with offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Southampton and Taunton. It is also the NFU legal panel firm for Dorset, Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.

For further information contact [email protected]

To use the Which Will? tool visit www.clarkewillmott.com/which-will