When family members work together on the farm, disputes over pay, roles, and ownership can become especially difficult because the lines between family and business are often blurred. A son may work alongside his father for decades. One sibling may manage the farm full-time while another owns part of the land but works somewhere else. A daughter may handle the books, marketing, or livestock without ever having a formal job description. Everyone may believe they understand the arrangement, until someone asks who is being paid fairly, who has authority to make decisions, or who will eventually own the farm.
These…
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Business Partner Disputes in Agriculture: Can Mediation Keep a Farm or Agribusiness Out of Court? When owners of a farm, agricultural LLC, partnership, or other closely held agribusiness stop agreeing about how the business should operate, the consequences can extend far beyond an ordinary disagreement. Crops still need to be planted or harvested. Livestock still need care. Loans must be paid. Employees need direction. Contracts must be honored. And a dispute between two owners can quickly affect the value and future of the entire operation.
Litigation is sometimes necessary, particularly when there are allegations of fraud, misuse of company property,…
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Farm Lease Disputes in Illinois: When Mediation Can Help Landowners and Farmers Avoid Litigation is an increasingly important question when a disagreement threatens a working relationship, a farming operation, or plans for the next crop year. A farm lease is more than an agreement about acreage and rent. It can affect planting decisions, input purchases, improvements, financing, access to land, and relationships that may have existed between families for generations. When a disagreement develops, mediation may offer Illinois farmers and landowners a practical way to resolve the conflict before it turns into costly litigation.
Farm lease disputes can become particularly…
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Divorce Mediation for Farm Families in Illinois: Can You Protect the Farm Without Going to Court? For many farm families, that question carries far more weight than a typical property-division dispute. A farm may be a family’s home, livelihood, business, retirement plan, and legacy all at once. When a marriage ends, decisions about farmland, equipment, livestock, operating entities, debt, and future income can affect not only the divorcing spouses but also children, parents, siblings, employees, landlords, lenders, and the next generation.
Litigation is sometimes necessary. But when both spouses can participate meaningfully in negotiations, mediation may offer another way to…
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Divorcing a Business Owner in Illinois: What Happens to the Business? can be a much more complicated question than deciding who keeps a house or how a bank account should be divided. A closely held business may represent income, years of work, family wealth, and one spouse’s future livelihood all at the same time.
Whether the relevant asset is an LLC membership interest, corporate shares, a partnership interest, professional-practice interest, farm-business interest, or sole-proprietorship assets, an Illinois divorce may require the parties to determine whether the business interest, ownership interest, or business assets are marital or non-marital property, what the…
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Should a Family Farm Have a Buy-Sell Agreement? What Happens When an Owner Dies, Divorces, or Wants Out? is a question farm families should consider long before an ownership change becomes urgent. A family farming operation may involve parents, siblings, children, cousins, or multiple generations who own land or interests in an LLC or other business entity together. Everyone may get along well today, but death, disability, divorce, retirement, or a family disagreement can quickly change the ownership picture.
A thoughtfully drafted buy-sell agreement can establish rules for those transitions before emotions and financial pressure are running high. For many…
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By Sam Ellis, Esq.
When USDA says no, an unfavorable agency decision does not necessarily mean the matter is over. In “When USDA Says No: Understanding the National Appeals Division Appeal Process,” Sam Ellis, Esq., of Rincker Law, PLLC, explains what farmers, ranchers, and other agricultural program participants should know about challenging certain adverse USDA decisions through the National Appeals Division, commonly known as NAD.
Agricultural producers often rely on United States Department of Agriculture programs for loans, conservation assistance, crop insurance, disaster payments, and other forms of support. When a USDA agency issues an unfavorable decision, the financial and…
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Starting a Business With a Friend or Family Member in Illinois? Put These Agreements in Writing First may not sound like the most exciting advice when two people are enthusiastic about launching a new company. But some of the hardest business disputes begin with people who trusted each other enough to believe they did not need formal agreements.
Friends, siblings, spouses, parents and adult children frequently start businesses together because they already have a relationship. That trust can be an advantage, but it should not replace clear documentation.
This article focuses primarily on limited liability companies (LLCs), which are a…
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Can an LLC Protect the Family Farm From a Divorce? What Illinois Farm Owners Should Know is an important question for farm families who have spent years or generations building agricultural businesses and accumulating farmland, equipment, livestock, and other valuable assets. An LLC can be a useful part of a farm’s legal and succession structure, but simply placing a family farm into an LLC does not automatically make it untouchable in an Illinois divorce.
Whether a farm or an ownership interest in a farming LLC may be affected by divorce depends on several factors, including when the property was acquired,…
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2027 Illinois Farm Leases: What Landowners and Farmers Should Negotiate Before Harvest Ends is a conversation many Illinois farmers and farmland owners should be having before the combines are parked for the season. Farm lease discussions often happen in the fall, but waiting until the last minute can leave both sides rushing through important decisions involving rent, expenses, improvements, conservation practices, and the future use of the land.
The economic environment makes those conversations particularly important heading into 2027. University of Illinois farmdoc reports that Illinois cash rents remained relatively strong in 2026, while most farm managers surveyed expected 2027…
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August Is National Make-a-Will Month: 7 Estate Planning Documents Illinois Families Should Review is a timely reminder that estate planning is about more than deciding who receives your property after you die. A good estate plan can also address who may handle your finances if you become incapacitated, who can make health care decisions for you, and how a family business or farm should continue.
Many people put off estate planning because they feel too young or assume they can deal with it later. But marriage, divorce, children, buying property, starting a business, or losing a loved one can quickly…
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