Question about lease machinery and land

[Red Steele]

Why do you want to stir the pot? This is a free country, if you don't like the gift you received, simply give it back and go make your fortune in this vast land. Today, some penniless immigrant is going to come to America and eclipse the accomplishment of many that won the lottery by being born here. They won't do that by whining about perceived mistreatment, either.

If you have the blessing of not having to work and care for your ancestors, but instead have received some sort of gift from them, you are one of a few and should doubliy count your blessings.

My two cents on the matter.

[buckfarmer]

Seems to me that you could have been left/gifted nothing. It happens all the time in farm families. Often the heir that has stayed on the farm and is active in running the farm is given preferential treatment. It's just the way it is. Is this your brother-in-law. I guess if I were in your position I would try to get them to buy your shares. Try not to look back and be glad I got something.
Accually as I'm typing this I'm reminded that my inlaw's are wealthy. I have been given some awesome gifts over the years but expect nothing. If I get some sort of inheritance I'll consider it my wife's which she can do what she wants with.

[Geniusfarms]

Buck great points. The old estate planning of whats fair vs whats equal. In many cases the on farm heir has put his dues in working on the family farm while the other children went on to pursue their own career. Also in many cases the on farm heir lives closest to run all the errands for the parents as well as had to put up with a lot of bs over the years while the siblings live hours and many states away. I would figure a value on the shares and just get a buyout price or sell on contract. Sometimes dealing with family is harder than a stranger off the street. Good luck !

[kraft-t]

We cannot make those judgements with the limited information we have.

I was one of those stay at home farmers and I was able to rent those properties for a number of years. The fact is the terms of that arrangement were equal to what would have been a normal transaction should I have rented land from neighbors. In fact i did rent other property in the neighborhood and as such I deserved no preferential treatment because renting family ground was aprofit making endevour.

Thus i say that renting the family ground was a golden opportunity and the parents/owners owed me nothing upon their demise. In fact the personal assistance my wife and I bestowed on her parents were a gift to them because we loved them and wanted to help. I'm sure that others do the same for family members and simply do not keep score. Why? because we think we  have certain obligations which we owe to our parents because they are our parents.

People that keep score and expect to be compensated for their efforts should have the responsibility to bill their parents for those good deeds in a timely fashion or scratch the bills paid in full. After all if one thinks he needs to be compensated the payer has the right to know ahead of time the cost to him or his estate.

Just because we think we are worthy of compensation, that doesn't mean everyone agrees. Now other family members did not get the iopportunity to rent those prime Iowa acres for aperiod of time. Perhaps it is I that got the big advantage and the city sibblings that got the shirt end of the stick. The point being that we cannot determine that from the outside looking in. One needs to know all the facts to make an informed judgement.

[kraft-t]

I  suppose most times they buy new equipment and it is under factory warranty for a period of time. Yes it must be aprofitable venture or the companies would not offer the leases to consumers. The lease payments are all tax deductable and the debt does not show up on the net worth statement of the user.

[farm160]

Sounds to me like you were given a gift that really wasn't meant to provide you with anything in the near term and was merely a formality to transition some value to you for estate planning purposes. You have several options: 1) be grateful and accept the fact that it is worth nothing now but may have future value and just sit back and be quiet 2) tell them you are going to report them to some governing agency (IRS or sec of state) if you think they are doing something illegal or improper --maybe that will spur them on. But that will make for an interesting holiday dinner, 3)tell them you don't want it because it is causing stress and then give it back. I know which one I would do

[minnisota]

If it was the people who gave the gift who where doing this I would just give it back. But it's not,  it's someone who received the same gift doing this.

We have already decided on door number one. We are grateful for the gift.

Would have been nice if someone would have told us this was the intention of the other gift receiver since it wasn't a gift from them I guess this is the problem they have this entitlement mentality that it's all theirs. After reading about this it seems to happen more often than a person would think. 

But I know the people who gave the gift didn't  intend for this to happen or why would they have given it in the first place they where doing it  cause they wanted their kids to enjoy what they spent a lifetime building. 

The reason I asked about the Lease was just to see if this was something that's right. I just never heard of a business who would write up lease then pay for the repairs insurance and storage use it as much as I want and then give it back when it doesn't work anymore and have a new one to do it again. And since I now have control you are gonna pay me half what it makes me. The leases is just for the value with no ROI.

Any thinking person would say that's a confict of interest or self dealing or use other words to descibe this. But they wrote this agreement  with the blessing of the coporate atty 

[farm160]

I would be upset if I were in your situation. Kind of being used. Does the corporations balance sheet grow from year-to-year? That would be a telling point.
We have a family farm corporation and have gifted shares to our adult kids. And we have paid out dividends. But the adult kids don't really need the money and can't get a very good return on money in the bank so they have requested that the corporation continue to keep the money and grow. It is a decision we are all involved in. They like the diversification and involvement. But all families and corps operate differently. Wish you could see how it works when done this way. Good luck!