What is good for a farm’s tax strategy is not always in the best interests of farm women.
That discrepancy was revealed at legal rights workshops held across Canada the past year, said Shannon Storey of the National Farmers Union. The NFU is one of five groups participating in the national information project that began in 1993.
Storey said a woman’s matrimonial property rights can run up against a farm’s financial arrangements. Potential conflicts can also arise between a woman’s need to have her own credit history versus standard practice for farm debt.
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Estate planning was a major issue at all the workshops held in each western province plus Quebec and New Brunswick, said Storey. The issues raised were similar but “each province has its own twist on things.”
In Saskatchewan, the fuel tax rebate was raised as an example of gender discrimination since a husband and wife farming team could not claim it but two brothers or a father and child operating together could. It took a human rights complaint to change that, but now the province may reduce the rebate available to make up for having to pay out more.
Problems resulting from verbal rather than written agreements and knowing if and when to use a lawyer and accountant were two issues raised by Alberta women.
Special problems encountered
Quebec has special problems, notably with estate law and pre-marriage contracts because it operates under a different civil law than the other nine provinces.
Joyce Johnson, who co-ordinated Manitoba’s workshop last month for the Women’s Institute, said most questions were about transferring the farm to the next generation. There was also discussion about marital property rights on separation, disposal of property after death and women’s access to crop insurance and other provincial programs when they farm separately from their husbands.
Wendy Scott, who is co-ordinating the next phase of the project for the Canadian Farm Women’s Network, hopes to have funding in place by February so the five partners can meet to set priorities. The group is planning a communication program aimed at farm women and agricultural professionals in the banking and legal systems.
