Notes on issues related to setting up an LLC so that the Farm can be preserved, for a time at least, as a single parcel. (This is Plan B, Plan A was spelled out in the Will and remains an option if Plan B should prove unworkable.)
That's the easy part, it's in the details where things get messy...
Ideally the house is not part of the Farm, but current zoning regulations prohibit the usual house-and-an-acre exclusion, which would ensure that he had a place to live in the worst case. If we're forced to exclude from the Farm the entire 20 acres the house is on, then Steve's share of the remainder is below that of the other brothers', and his parcel then becomes vulnerable to County bullshit regarding Ag-use thresholds.
Must avoid Community Property pollution, care will need to be taken if funds must ever be put into the Farm for any reason. Does spousal sign-off at incorporation time prevent this?
If they are part of the Farm, necessary (perhaps) to keep the wooded portion in Ag use, then they should be formally part of Farm assets, to be managed (and shared) like anything else.
Keep in mind that a 100-acre estate might be far more attractive than a 99-acre parcel with somebody else's house squatting in the middle of it. The house might need to be part of the sale in order to get the sale to happen at all, even if they don't actually want the house. (They could even be planning to raze the house for their helipad or Pony Pavilion, in which case the house's value wouldn't actually factor in to the sale at all, from their point of view. Would Steve then even be entitled to an off-the-top portion? [Yes, he's giving up something of value in exchange, regardless of what they'd do with it.])
It has become clear that nobody involved has the aptitude or interest in Plan B (above). Steve has expressed, on multiple occasions, his intention of living the rest of his life in the house he has inherited, farming what he can. The Jackpot/Exit scenario in Plan B becomes impossible.
OK, back to Plan A. Sort of. Dad's Will called for the farm (Clark county) to be split into five equal-sized parcels: one each to his three sons, one held in common containing the well and barn, and another one held in common to be sold if taxes need to be paid. No accounting was to be made for any relative value difference among the parcels, and especially no accounting for the timber was to be made. This plan was conceived with the mindset that part of the farm would have to be sold to pay taxes, but that is currently not the case. (State law at the time of Dad's passing exempts estates of $2.1M or less from death duties, and the federal threshold is higher. The appraised value of the Estate was less than this. So, no punitive tax load.) Also, this plan comes with the huge headache that would be managing the commonly-held assets on an ongoing basis, a potential minefield of conflict and dissention that lasts 'forever'.
The three beneficiaries have agreed that a clean three-way split is more to their liking, as there is no real necessity for five parcels other than that it provides the (current) maximum number of subdivisions. Neither Jim nor Gene need access to the barn; Gene does not need access to the well; Steve, sooner or later, will need his own well anyway. Moreover, we have all agreed to the rough plan that Gene penciled out, where each son gets his original parcel plus 1/3 of the 2/5 common portion. So long as there is no opposition among the beneficiaries, we can do this instead. (Otherwise I execute the will exactly as written. [Plan A.])
- Jim
- Jim's parcel (A) to the West is the most varied, and has excellent access to the road bounding the entire North side of the original 100-acre parcel, substantial cleared land, the well, and some timber. It contains the Lyons homestead house site.
- Steve
- Steve's parcel (B) to the East has the house and barn, substantial cleared land, and all developed assets such as the orchard, vineyard, greenhouse, garden, driveway, power. It is possibly 1 acre larger than the other two parcels, and has excellent road access. It has negligible timber.
- Gene
- Gene's parcel (C) to the South has a building site with a spectacular view, and considerable assets in timber. It has some cleared land. It does not have good road access, except as mentioned below.
Ignoring road-access issues for Gene, the equal-thirds parcel layout would be:
North
+=====+===========+
| | |
| | |
| | B |
| | |
| | |
| A +-----------+
| | |
| | |
| | C |
| | |
| | |
+-----+-----------+
Because Gene does not trust Steve's likely beneficiaries, he does not want a mere easement to the road. Because Steve does not want additional traffic on his driveway (which is extremely close to the house), especially if Gene should sell his parcel, he also does not want the most natural easement: access to the existing driveway, which already makes it almost all of the way to Gene's parcel. In response, the plan has Gene's parcel include a strip of land out to the road, located between Jim's and Steve's parcels and away from the house, making his the only parcel that is not strictly rectangular. (The other easement possibility, down the East side of Steve's parcel, is not practical due to the topography.) The boundaries between Steve's and Gene's parcels are adjusted accordingly to accommodate this strip; there is no effect on Jim's parcel. Steve's parcel remains rectangular but gets a little narrower in the East-West dimension, and a little deeper in the North-South dimension. Gene's parcel ends up resembling the little flag stuck into a club sandwich: largely rectangular but with a little stick poking out one side to the road. Gene is willing to 'buy' part of Steve's parcel for the road access, in exchange for less of the residual estate funds, if that should be more desirable to Steve.
The rough appearance of the three parcels is, then:
North North
+=====+=+=========+ +=====+=+=========+
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | B | | | | B |
| | | | | | | (+ $$) |
| | | | | | | |
| A | | | OR | A | +---------+
| | +---------+ | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | C |
| | C | | | (- $$) |
| | | | | |
+-----+-----------+ +-----+-----------+
(The nasty ASCII sketches are not to scale, and are meant only to
illustrate the rough shapes and orientations of the parcels.)
Other issues:
The intent is that the farm continue operation as before, as much as is possible, until such time as somebody changes his mind, sells, or dies. Beyond, even.
What I want out of the lawyer:
I already have the death certificates and the Letters Testamentary, this was pushed through by my father's own attorney, as her last act on his behalf. There are no conflicts among the beneficiaries, we are all in agreement with what is to come.
We have determined that we shall divide the farm into three parcels, A, B, and C, one each for the sons named above. Steve will continue to farm all parcels for the forseeable future, as he has been since even before Dad's passing; the house and barn are on Parcel B. This keeps the land in the land-use classification, meaning we can afford to keep it. The intent is that the farm continue operation as before, as much as is possible, until such time as somebody changes his mind, sells, or dies. Beyond, even.
What I need is help taking care of the real estate. Mostly rural. I can do everything else that is not already done. (The bank accounts and other investments I have left 'til last, once all other expenses and accommodations have been taken care of, so that any final rebalancing can occur.)
What I want out of the lawyer:
Further details can be provided if this looks like something you might be interested in.
I sent the above to: https://lawyers.justia.com/lawyer/earl-william-jackson-jr-815895 and https://lawyers.justia.com/lawyer/bonnie-marino-blair-830044 on Wednesday, July 20, 2022.
Contacted Tuesday, May 23, 2023, left message.
Contacted Tuesday, May 23, 2023. John Meier, in office. (Field surveyor Jim Hannon.) $5-8k? They expect it to be simple, as it's above parcel minimum.
We have come up with a division plan that satisfies both the Will and the three beneficiaries. Notable features of the three proposed equal-area parcels, listed in beneficiary birth order:
- Jim
- Jim's parcel (A) to the West is the most varied, and has excellent access to the road bounding the entire North side of the original 100-acre parcel, substantial cleared land, the well and its water right, and some timber. It contains the Lyons homestead house site.
- Steve
- Steve's parcel (B) to the East has the house and barn, substantial cleared land, and all developed assets such as the orchard, vineyard, greenhouse, garden, driveway, power. It also has excellent road access. It has negligible timber.
- Gene
- Gene's parcel (C) to the South has a building site with a spectacular view, and considerable assets in timber. It has some cleared land. It does not have good road access, except as mentioned below.
(The nasty ASCII sketches are not to scale, and are meant only to illustrate the rough shapes and orientations of the parcels.)
Ignoring road-access issues for Gene, the equal-thirds parcel layout would be:
North
+=====+===========+
| | |
| | |
| | B |
| | |
| | |
| A +-----------+
| | |
| | |
| | C |
| | |
| | |
+-----+-----------+
Because Gene does not trust Steve's likely beneficiaries, he does not want a mere easement to the road. Because Steve does not want additional traffic on his driveway (which is extremely close to the house), especially if Gene should sell his parcel, he also does not want the most natural easement: access to the existing driveway, which already makes it almost all of the way to Gene's parcel. In response, the plan has Gene's parcel include a strip of land out to the road, located between Jim's and Steve's parcels and away from the house, making his the only parcel that is not strictly rectangular. (The other easement possibility, down the East side of Steve's parcel, is not practical due to the topography.) The boundaries between Steve's and Gene's parcels are adjusted accordingly to accommodate this strip; there is no effect on Jim's parcel. Steve's parcel remains rectangular but gets a little narrower in the East-West dimension, and a little deeper in the North-South dimension. Gene's parcel ends up resembling a mailbox flag, with the stick going out to the road.
Due to the topography where the three parcels meet, some boundary modification in that area might be necessary in order to make a driveway to Gene's parcel practical.
The rough appearance of the three parcels is, then:
North
+=====+=+=========+
| | | |
| | | |
| | | B |
| | | |
| | | |
| A | | |
| | +---------+
| | |
| | |
| | C |
| | |
+-----+-----------+
Other issues:
The intent is that the farm continue operation as before, as much as is possible, until such time as somebody changes his mind, sells, or dies. Beyond, even.
I accounted for 3 days to perform the initial fieldwork and another 2 days to set property corners. I'm hoping that your neighbors to the south would potentially let us set GPS points near your south line which we could use for our traverse along your south line which will be much more efficient than starting in your field to the north and making a traverse loop.The title of the property is still in Grandparents' names. (Jim/Marian) So that'll need clearing up.
Sent death certificate to victorycapitalinvest@vcm.com They say to call after 5-7 business days.
Called National Financial Services, LLC. (800) 801-9942 about RNQ-056243
Will need a snail-mail exchange of paperwork to arrange for transfer.
They E-mailed instructions to follow.
Called Clark Co. clerk's office: (564) 397-2292 regarding a fresh copy of Letters Testementary. Clerk's office said they don't expire. (As I thought, also.)
Have to re-petition the court, essentially starting over. They suggested (564) 397-2268 law library, helpers? Time to call Janna again? I left a message on Janna's phone.
and sent it to her. Contact info:convert -type grayscale -threshold 25% /tmp/IMG_1626.jpg /tmp/lt.jpg
Amela Caluk
VP, Operations Manager
Estate Servicing Operations
Bank of America
T 602.379.8815 M 480.826.6343
amela.caluk@bofa.com
Good news, if it works out!
She believes the current problem is that there are two actual court documents that I got: The 'Letters Testamentary) (1 page) dated 2018, and a 'Certificate of Transcript and Recording' (1 page), two copies dated 2018, 2023. The 2023 Transcript, the only one new enough for them to use, refers to a 2020 Letter, which I don't have. The copy I personally picked up at the Clark County courthouse last month was two pages: the first a copy of the 2018 Letter, and the second a newly-created Transcript, dated 2023, referring to a 2020 Letter. Could this have been a mistake by the clerk?
I'm leaning towards the latter. I went there in person, and paid $5 for two pages that appear relatively unrelated? Gotta be a mistake.
Upon reflection I called the courthouse and talked to the clerk's office. The handwritten May 8, 2020 date on the second page is completely spurious, and looks like a mistake made by the deputy clerk I was dealing with, in person, at the time. No date associated with this case is any of May, or 8, or 2020. (Had I noticed/suspected it could have been cleared up right then and there. But... who knew?) It should have been October 19, 2018—the date of the original filing.
But it gets even worse. The court, on its own, decided in September that the estate is now closed, due to 'inactivity' (and getting a freshly-dated copy of the Letters clearly doesn't count as activity) so I cannot even get a reprint. Not without a new petition to the court re-opening the estate.
So, either the other bank will allow me to open an estate account based on their prior acceptance of my paperwork, or there will be a (probably lengthy, and expensive) delay.
Argh! Cluster fuckage to the max! I called Janna, and she's willing to do the necessaries. If I don't hear from her before the end of next week (Oct 6) I should call back.
Capsule summary, so far:
Gene says of the Lewis Co. property: "As to the valuation of the land—now that gets interesting. The current valuation by the assessors office is a whopping $1,100.00. Helps keep the taxes down. I believe this is how they now value timber property-dump the assessed value and charge the same amount as everyone else—just mils per smaller value. They seem to boost it up about $100 every five years or so."
"What could it be sold for? I could justify a pretty wide range on that number. Seems to me that the assessor ranged from 15K to 63K in five years then dropped it to 42K. Then they changed how timber was assessed and it dropped to 1K. On the other hand, 5 acres of flat field down near Tauscher Road is now listed for 150K. With internet and doubtless other ameneties, but lacking the abundant surface water everywhere. Aint nothin that contains dirt that is cheap anymore. That is a whole different kvetch."
Website for Columbia River Carbonates subset for agricultural stuff. (Google them directly at columbia river carbonates for access to other fields such as paper coatings, concrete, etc if you are interested.) https://micronaag.com/
They have ag. crop specialists that can work out dosing, fertilizer blends, etc. All you need to know to use their products well.
Peter Mahrt is the maintenance manager at CRC. Do not have contact info, but who you want is:
Gudrun Mahrt
Agriculture Sales and Development Manager
Direct: 360-225-4108
E-Mail: gmahrt@carbonates.com
Gene also states that if you mow/harvest wrong you can kill your yields. Timothy hay should be cut early, so that the seeds stay in the head and improve the protein content. But not too late or too low to the ground, else a low second growth will not have time to mature and re-seed itself before winter sets in. (Too too late and it will have re-seeded itself from the first growth, but the hay quality will be poor.) Do it right and it's self-seeding, 'perpetually'. Do it wrong and the timothy dies off, leaving only lesser grasses.
Seeding with less-expensive rye also isn't the savings it might appear, because you have to seed heavier with rye than with timothy even in the best of conditions.
The difficulties with the original lawyer (and the bank) have been sorted out, and we're actually ready to proceed with the project, if you're still up for it.
I did not hear anything back, casting a wider net.This ping worked, Hannon will review our account and contact me Monday. To Janna:The difficulties with the original lawyer (and the bank) have been sorted out, and we're actually ready to proceed with the project, if you're still up for it.
I had not heard back from you, so in spite of my father's directive to utilize you for 'the other side', so to speak, this has gone on far too long so we have secured other counsel, and the probate has been successfully re-opened and the Estate account (the gating factor for paying for the real estate work) has been opened.Thank you, anyway. Be well.
Signed and mailed back the agreement form to AKS Engineering & Forestry. (Surveyor. Estimate in the $21k range.)
Thanks for sending the agreement, we received it. I'll work on getting this prepped and scheduled, we'll likely start field work in a week or so, I'll let you know the date when we're coming out.