Thanks to The Cumbria Farmer Network for inviting John Cooke and Nicola Steadman to speak at their recent event at The Crooklands Hotel, along with Rob Hitch from Dodd & Co Chartered Accountants.

Lots for everyone in the room to think about and useful for other members of our team who were present.

Our top 5 takeaways were:

• Have those discussions – sooner rather than later, before they become difficult ones!
• No one size fits all – what decision might give IHT tax savings, might not be best for income tax. Speak to your accountant!
• Work out who actually owns the land you are farming – might not be what you have always assumed!
• Think about getting unregistered land registered now, rather than wait until everything else need sorting out.
• And finally… everyone needs a Power of Attorney! Particularly if you are running a family business, farm or otherwise.

It was also lovely to hear from Brian Armstrong from The Farming Community Network’s Cumbria Group on how they can help farming families – sometimes just having someone else to talk to and who will listen, can be enough to help you move forward.