Donnett Elder considers herself to be one of the lucky ones.
When her husband Harry-Jae died suddenly last January, her grief wasn’t complicated by financial ignorance.
She owned her own land, was an equal partner in the Fillmore, Sask., farm with her husband and son and was totally involved in the operation. She and her husband had a will and an estate plan.
Getting her finances in order wasn’t easy. “It was the hardest work I’ve ever done,” she said, but at least she knew what to do.
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Elder is aware that many farm women thrown into the same situation aren’t as lucky. She said it’s still common for daughters-in-law to be excluded from the business when they move to the farm after the wedding.
What should women do to prepare themselves for the unthinkable?
“It would be easy to say ‘have a will’, but it’s not that easy because many farm men don’t have wills. A lot of farm men have the land in their name but they don’t have wills and the implications of that are horrendous. Women aren’t the executors and have no control over the situation. The least thing she can do is to get a will.”
If they have the luxury, women should also consider an estate plan.
“We did that five years ago so the farm is not lost by any means but is passed on to who you want it to.”
Instead of dividing the farm among all five children, which she said wouldn’t leave a viable operation for Joel, the son who wants to continue farming, Elder and her husband used an insurance plan. The policy passes on a financial inheritance to the four non-farming children and leaves all of the farm to Joel.
She also urged women to get involved in the business as much as possible. This means women should have their own memberships in organizations like the pool and the local co-op, their own Canadian Wheat Board permit books, their own land and their own credit cards.
She also advises wives not to be intimidated by the businesses they will have to work with after their husbands are gone.
“When you deal with businesspeople, if they don’t explain to you what’s going on, find someone else.”
