AGRIVIEW.COM
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2019 |
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BOTTOM LINE Sharing ideas, solutions, resources and experiences that help dairy producers succeed.
LEGALLY SPEAKING
Don’t wait to prepare will
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ear George: Q: A friend of ours recently died unexpectedly. He leaves behind a wife and two kids – and he didn’t have a will in place. My wife and I want to put things in order to avoid the legal hassles they’re dealGEORGE ing with in TWOHIG addition to their grief, but we don’t know where to start. Can you give us some pointers? A: Sadly many people put off these critically important decisions. Too often they die without having established either a will or living trust – or they have outdated documents that no longer reflect their wishes. According to a “Money” magazine article, only 40 percent of American adults have a will or living trust in place. If a person dies intestate, or without a will, intestate-succession laws apply to the assets. Those assets are considered “probate assets” because there is no legal mechanism in place for the assets to pass directly to beneficiaries. Under Wisconsin intestate-succession law, probate assets pass as follows. Assets go to the surviving spouse if all one’s children are from that marriage. If the deceased had children separate from his or her current spouse, then the surviving spouse receives all property currently held as survivorship marital property or as joint tenancy – as well as half of any property the deceased owned individually. The children receive the deceased’s share of the marital property without survivorship and half of the deceased’s separate property. If there is no surviving spouse, probate assets pass to the deceased’s children by right of representation. If there is no spouse or children, probate assets pass to surviving parents or, if they are deceased, to surviving siblings by right of representation. If none of those apply, probate assets pass to grandparents or, if they are deceased, to their living descendants, with half each to the maternal and paternal side. If none of those apply, probate assets pass to the Wisconsin School Fund. Without a will each heir will receive his or her bequest outright when the heir reaches age 18. The court will also designate the personal representative of the deceased’s estate – not an appealing prospect if the chosen representative is someone they consider untrustworthy or incapable of fairly administrating estate decisions. The court will also appoint guardians for minor or dependent children. Again selected representatives may be individuals outside one’s preferences. A will is the most basic way to document one’s desired plan of distribution to protect and provide for minors as well as financially challenged or special-needs beneficiaries. Particularly when there are farm assets and/or trusts to transfer, a will is essential to designate specific personal representatives and guardians of minor or dependent children. Unfortunately both options – the intestate
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Please see TWOHIG, Page E3
Thursday, December 12, 2019 SECTION E
PEOPLE PERSPECTIVE neighbors. I’m not sure yet if those seeds will be spoken words, cards, gifts or home-cooked goodies, but I know we can do someur son Shawn, who thing to ensure they know is responsible for the we are thankful for them. cropping enterprise I want to plant seeds of at our farm, came to me a appreciation among all couple of weeks ago. He other people. Those of us asked to talk in agriculture have expeabout seed rienced many unfortunate needs for things outside of our connext year’s trol this year, but so have crops. At many others. Many have that moCONTRIBUTED lost loved ones or expement I felt rienced broken relationcompletely The first place to plant seeds of gratitude is with an important group of people – the inner HANK ships. Too many people overcircle of family and friends. WAGNER rarely hear words of apprewhelmed give them more time, more ciation; they live their lives child. We would have and unable it wouldn’t stop time or with low self-esteem. words of thanks and apmissed all the fabulous even slow it down. Winto process his request. We now are much more memories and experiences preciation, and more good ter is coming and there’s While it’s normal to times to remember before familiar with the feeling with family and friends. nothing I can do about it. be planning seed needs of being at the end of our this year ends. Thanksgiving ihas already It became clear that even in early November, this rope – and I say that gives The second place to year has been so different. come and gone; Christmas though 2019 was a difficult us all the more reason to year for many of us in agri- plant seeds of gratitude Maybe it’s because the end is knocking at the door. look for places to plant The drumbeat of marching culture we still have crops and appreciation is with of silage harvest was two seeds with others. By another group of importto feed our animals. The months later than normal time didn’t seem to care planting seeds of thankant people who helped sun still shines and prices and just being completed. that I was not ready. In fulness and appreciation Or it could have been be- fact, time waits for no one. are improving. And – more us through the year – our we still have plenty of employees. Without our importantly – we all have The negative and fruscause of the never-ending time to still bring in abungreat team 2019 would trating experiences of 2019 people in our lives who mud that persisted all dant harvest in 2019. have been an even bigger made 2019 a good year. made me eager to just put year long. That mud was challenge. They helped So for the rest of this now turning to frozen soil this horrible year behind Hank Wagner is a dairy us do the work while also long before we were ready me. And then the thought memorable year I plan to producer and a John Maxcame to me – what if I had intentionally focus on seed helping us have some fun – and there was still so the option to remove 2019? planting. I invite everyone along the way. Of course in well Team teacher, mentor, much to do. to consider joining me. The that same group of people speaker and coach. To What if I could erase all I finally said, “Shawn, I include our nutritionists, learn more about nurturing first place to plant seed is of 2019 in an instant and I just need a little more thankfulness, consider readveterinarians, breeders, time to put the challenges start off with Jan. 1, 2020? with an important group ing Hank’s book “Teachable custom harvesters, maof people – our inner cirof this year behind us be- Would I? nure haulers, milk haulers, Moments: Lessons from cle of family and friends. It was a tempting fore I can think about next Africa.” It’s available online equipment-repair proThey are the source of thought – but only for a year.” at amazon.com and at most many great memories and fessionals, agronomists, few moments. I almost Then a quick look at book stores. Contact hwagsalespeople, milk-equipthe main reason 2019 was immediately realized that the calendar had me realment repair people, deliv- ner@frontiernet.net for a good year in spite of all without a 2019 we would izing I could put off seed more information. ery people, landlords and the challenges. I want to not have another grandordering if I chose to, but
Focus on seed planting
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Dairy managers, executives gather in Texas Managers Academy for Dairy Professionals™ is an executive educational program for dairy CEOs, owners and managers as well as other industry professionals. It’s scheduled for Jan. 14-16, 2020, in Corpus Christi, Texas. With a theme of “Renew, Refine, Rethink,” the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin’s 2020 program is centered on honing the mental acuity of producers, sharpening team-management skills and rejuvenating business mindsets. The three-day program is bookended by Holly G. Green, founder of the Management Development Institute offered at
San Diego State University; and Michael Hoffman, founder and owner of Igniting Performance Inc., a Dallas-based company that specializes in teaching the skills of sales, customer loyalty and leadership. Green and Hoffman will shed light on harnessing the innate human ability to reason, problem-solve and stay focused on objectives despite distractions. Day two of Managers Academy offers attendees out-of-industry tours to showcase the common ground dairy shares with the cotton and energy industries. Participants Please see DAIRY, Page E2
Calf Blankets:
3 sizes available Quick release buckles Durable nylon fabric adafdsfa Insulation
“...reduced fetching and improved robot attachment times. That’s huge!” — Josh Lingen
LINGEN DAIRY, The Lingen Family BALATON, MINNESOTA 400 cows, 87 lbs/cow/day 5.2F SCC 65 to 70,000 “The Udder Comfort™ pre-fresh groups came in with udders full of milk, but so soft, no edema. We saw an average of 2 pounds more milk from those 2-yr-olds at around 14 DIM. Robot attachments are faster, and robot fetch time on first lactations was cut by 70%. That’s huge! By softening them right into calving, udders went through fewer changes in the first 10 days after calving, and it took out that belly edema, making the robots more efficient,” Josh Lingen reports.
At Lingen Dairy, Balaton, Minn., 240 cows milk robotically and 100 by parlor, making 87 lbs of 5.2F milk. Using Udder Comfort Quality Udders Make Quality Milk routinely after calving for 5 years, Josh To locate a distributor and learn more about the says, “we saw quality and performance new Backpack Sprayer, call 1.888.773.7153 uddercomfort.com with SCC 100 to 150,000.” He wanted to @uddercomfort For external application to the udder only, after milking, as an essential component see how heifers respond to it pre-fresh. of udder management. Always wash and dry teats thoroughly before milking. “We used the Udder Comfort Backpack to spray pre-fresh 2-yr-olds in headlocks 1x/day for a week before calving. SCC dropped to 70,000 in the robot and parlor. But the biggest thing is how it reduced fetching and improved attachment times. I absolutely love it!”