Revocable Living Trusts

A Trust Built Around Your Operation

Avoid probate and protect your farm legacy with a revocable living trust drafted for agricultural families. Flat-fee pricing.

Talk About a Living Trust

No obligation. No hourly billing. A straightforward conversation about whether a trust fits your situation.

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100% Confidential. Flat-fee pricing.

Probate Is Public, Expensive, and Slow. A Trust Bypasses It Entirely.

When a farmer passes away with only a will, everything they owned goes through probate — a public court process that typically takes 6 to 18 months in Nebraska and Minnesota. During that time, the farm’s bank accounts may be frozen, land can’t be sold or transferred, and the successor doesn’t have clear legal authority to operate.

A Revocable Living Trust solves this by transferring ownership of your assets into the trust while you’re alive. You remain the trustee. You still farm the land, spend the money, and make every decision. Nothing changes day-to-day. But when you pass away, the successor trustee steps in immediately — no court, no waiting, no public record.

For farm families, this isn’t just about convenience. It’s about keeping the operation running. Harvest doesn’t wait for a probate judge. Operating loans don’t pause because the named borrower died. A trust ensures continuity.

The critical step most attorneys skip is trust funding — actually retitling your land, accounts, and entities into the trust. Without this step, the trust is just paper. We include trust funding as part of every estate plan we build.

warningWhat’s at Risk

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    Probate Duration: 9-18 months of court proceedings while the farm sits in limbo.
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    Public Record: Every asset, every debt, every beneficiary becomes public information.
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    Operational Halt: Successor can’t sign leases, sell grain, or access accounts without court order.
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    Legal Costs: Attorney fees, court costs, and personal representative fees eat into the estate.
Kole explaining trust planning to a farm family

How a Farm Trust Actually Works

A Revocable Living Trust is a legal entity that holds title to your assets. You create it, you control it, and you can change or revoke it at any time. You use your same Social Security number for tax purposes. There is no separate tax return while you’re alive.

When you pass, the trust becomes irrevocable, and your successor trustee distributes assets according to your exact instructions — privately, efficiently, and without court involvement.

For farm families with land in multiple states, a trust is especially powerful. Without one, your family would need to open a separate probate proceeding in each state where you own real estate. A funded trust eliminates this entirely.

The Midwest Ag Law Process

We don’t do hourly billing, and we don’t hand you a stack of paper and wish you luck. Our process is designed to be transparent, thorough, and completely finished when we’re done.

1

Discovery & Planning

We sit down and map out your entire estate — land, entities, accounts, insurance. We identify what needs to go into the trust and design the succession structure.

2

Trust Drafting

We draft the Revocable Living Trust, the Pour-Over Will, and all supporting documents. We review everything in plain English until you understand every provision.

3

Trust Funding

This is the step that makes it real. We retitle your land, bank accounts, and LLC membership interests into the trust. When we’re done, the trust actually controls your assets.

4

Family Meeting

We offer an optional family meeting where we explain the plan to your successor trustee and key family members — so they understand their roles and responsibilities before the day comes.

What's Included in Your Trust Package

A complete estate plan — not just a document.

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Revocable Living Trust

The core document that holds your assets, names beneficiaries, and provides succession instructions for the farm operation.

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Pour-Over Will

A safety net that catches any assets accidentally left outside the trust and “pours” them in at death.

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Trust Funding

We retitle your land, bank accounts, and entities into the trust. This is the step that makes the trust actually work. Learn more →

3 Common Myths

Myth: “I have a Will, so my kids won’t have to go through Probate.”

Reality: A Will is literally an instruction manual for the Probate judge. Having a Will guarantees your estate will go through the public, expensive, and time-consuming probate process. Only a fully funded Trust bypasses it.

Myth: “If I put the land in a Trust, I lose control of it.”

Reality: With a Revocable Living Trust, you are the Trustee. You still buy, sell, farm, and manage everything exactly as you do now. You use your same social security number for taxes. Day-to-day, absolutely nothing changes while you’re alive.

Myth: “Estate planning is only for the ultra-wealthy.”

Reality: Estate planning isn’t about how much money you have; it’s about keeping what you have out of court and out of conflict. For a farm family, a modest operation is just as capable of being torn apart by a family squabble as a much larger one.

What Our Clients Say
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Sandramere Seed & Supply Co. profile picture
Sandramere Seed & Supply Co.
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Kole helped us develop HR documents and create some customer forms for our business. Kole really helps put legal language in understandable form. We really appreciate his thorough nature and ability to ask the right questions to uncover issues we had not considered. His agricultural knowledge is extremely valuable. Thanks Kole! We really appreciate you!
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James Jensen profile picture
James Jensen
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Working with Kole was easy and convenient. He answered all our questions and helped us get our trust established quickly.
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Brandon Boardman profile picture
Brandon Boardman
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Kole's personal experience and understanding in agriculture makes him a great attorney for all of your farms estate planning. He's very prompt, professional and he really cares about your needs. What a great guy.
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Mary Mollenhauer
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Working with this firm feels less like hiring a lawyer and more like bringing on a strategic partner for your legacy. They truly understand the complexity of multi-generational farming operations and approach every plan with both precision and long-term vision. For families managing significant agricultural assets, this is exactly the kind of counsel you want in your corner.
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Mitch Mender
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Kole is a bright and compassionate attorney. He knows what he is doing!
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Pooja Vasudev profile picture
Pooja Vasudev
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Kole Pederson walks the walk and talks the talk! As a former aerial applicator, he has fully lived the agricultural life so he is qualified to assist farmers, ranchers, and agricultural business owners with their estate planning/probate, business law, and real estate legal needs. Kole is diligent, resilient, and down to earth with a genuine commitment to help clients. In this day and age, when everything has become less tangible and very technological - Kole is the kind of attorney agricultural folks can benefit from having on their side!
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Matt Snoberger
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Kole was easy to work with and has vast knowledge of agriculture and a lot of common sense. One of the easiest people I’ve ever worked with.
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Flynn Baker profile picture
Flynn Baker
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I have worked with Kole on a legislative and policy committee for a non profit organization. Kole's input was incredibly valuable; especially navigating legal jargon and procedures as well as his attention to detail and timeliness. I am glad to have worked with him and trust his recommendations and actions in legal matters.
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Becky profile picture
Becky
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I was doing an online search for an attorney and ran across Midwest Ag Law. I called and Mr. Pederson actually answered the phone himself, which Never happens these days! Unfortunately, he doesn't do Guardianship cases, but was very kind and went out of his way to give me some referrals!
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Curt Friesen profile picture
Curt Friesen
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Legal work made simple. Very professional firm that delivered everything I needed, when I needed it, and at a reasonable price. Great to work with and will use them again.
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Frequently Asked Questions

Do I lose control of my assets if I put them in a trust?expand_more
Absolutely not. With a Revocable Living Trust, you are the trustee. You buy, sell, farm, and manage everything exactly as you do now. You can change or revoke the trust at any time. Day-to-day, nothing changes.
How is a trust different from a will?expand_more
A will is an instruction manual for the probate court — it guarantees a public court process. A trust operates privately and takes effect immediately at death, bypassing probate entirely. For farm families, this means the operation keeps running without interruption.
Does a trust protect my farm from nursing home costs?expand_more
A Revocable Living Trust does not provide asset protection from Medicaid or nursing home costs. For that, you need an Irrevocable Asset Protection Trust, which requires advance planning.
What happens if I own land in both Nebraska and Minnesota?expand_more
Without a trust, your family would need to open probate in both states — two courts, two attorneys, two sets of fees. A properly funded trust eliminates this by transferring title privately in both states.

Keep Your Farm Out of Probate

Schedule a free consultation to learn how a Revocable Living Trust can protect your operation and your family. Flat-fee pricing — you’ll know the cost before we start.