Farming Partnerships

Our team of agricultural experts has unrivalled expertise advising farmers on the full range of issues arising in the context of farming partnerships including:

• the death or retirement of a partner;
• the admission of new partners;
• tax and succession planning;
• relationship breakdown and dissolution.

The multi-generational and asset rich nature of many farming partnerships mean that succession and tax planning is hugely important. Our cross sector team will ensure that the appropriate structure and documentation is in place and that Wills and succession planning complement the partnership arrangements.

Sometimes relationships breakdown and it is not always possible to resolve matters amicably. We have extensive experience in dealing with partnership disputes and conducting court proceedings, having been involved in cases at the cutting edge of partnership law: family partnerships: two High Court decisions.

Recent experience:

• Acting in the Ham Partnership dispute which resulted in the reported cases of Ham v Ham (2013) Court of Appeal and Ham v Ham (No. 2) (2016) High Court. The cases concerned firstly the basis of valuation of a partnership share on the retirement of a partner (whether historic or current open market value) and secondly a dispute as to whether the farm itself was an asset of the partnership.
• Advising the owners of a large agricultural estate with diversified enterprises on the mitigation of inheritance tax through the creation of a farming partnership which provides for a tax efficient succession strategy.
• Acting for a partner wishing to realise his partnership share where the written agreement provided that the partnership would endure for the joint lives of the partners. We advised upon the identification of the partnership assets and the power of the court to wind up the partnership on just and equitable grounds.
• Advising in relation to the partition of a substantial family farming business which included both a partnership and corporate entity and significant co-owned land and other assets.
• Acting in Moore v Moore (2016) a contentious family dispute involving a disputed partnership dissolution and a proprietary estoppel claim.