Arizona sun., 1948-11-12
Farm Wife Should
Know About Wills

Livery farmer vile SnOulQ uH-
derstand how important it is to her
and her children that her husband
make will, suggests Jean Stew
art, state leader of home demon
stration work for the Agricultural
Extension Service.
A will is often more important
to farm family than to city
family, yet the majority of farm
ers do not make wills, various stud
les have indicated. Because most of
the farmers assets are tied up in
land, livestock, machinery and
tools, sales to settle estates destroy
the going-concern value of the
farm by scattering these assets. A
farm owned jointly by several
heirs makes for difficulty and oft
en- friction in management.
The farmers wife should know
that even the simplest will must be
written and in most states signed
by witnesses. It is best to consult
a lawyer familiar with the laws.
Property may be willed as the
owner pleases except that the low
er rights of the wife cannot be
willed away and restrictions cannot
be imposed on future generations.
The farmers wife as well as the
farmer should know that an ade-
quate will provides:
1. Security for the wife during
the remainder of her lifetime. Will
| ing the land to her means that she
can keep her home. If property is
willed to her in fee simple, she has
absolute title and can dispose of or
will the property as she pleases.
Or the property may be left to her
as a life estate which gives her the
use of it for her life but not the
disposal of it.
2. Equitable not necessarily
equal-treatment for children or
other heirs. For example, father
and-son agreement for the son who
has stayed on the farm may be
wisest, allowing him to manage the
! farm and care for his mother.
3. Transfer of the ownership of
the property so that it will cause
as little friction and uncertainty
as possible.
4. An ownership arrangement
which will not mean exploitation
of farm resources and inefficient
use of the land. A farm of $50
acres, for example, usually cannot
be efficiently operated if divided
into 5 separate farms.
Economists suggest consideration
of other methods of disposing of
property. If the children are small,
it may be wise to lease the entire
estate to the wife in fee simple. If
title to the farm is held jointly
with the wife and if it provides for
the right of survivorship, she will
become full owner. Otherwise, each
holds a one-half undivided owner
ship and the husbands half be-
comes part of the estate.
It is a rare farmer who can af-
ford to distribute his property dur
ing his lifetime, the economists
say. But husband and wife may
make interest-bearing loans to
each of the children, with provi-
sion in the notes that all or stat
ed amount of the Indebtedness is
to be cancelled automatically with
in stated period following the
death of whichever parent lives
the longer.
Another way is the annuity
method which allows an owner to
turn over qualified ownership of
land to his children yet retain an
nual rights for himself and his
wife.
A will is by far the best way of
guaranteeing that property will be
disposed of as the owner wishes.
Without will, the heirs may be-
come involved in a chancery suit
and it maybe years before the es-
tate is settled. Hard feelings may
develop among the children, or the
farm may disappear into small un-
economic parcels of land.
Homemaker groups in Maricopa
and Cochise counties have been
studying the legal rights of women
in Arizona. They have asked local
lawyers to meet with their club
groups or with both husbands and
wives at evening community meet
ings. A measure of the success Of
the study is the increasing number
of wills being made by the farm
families, Miss Stewart says.