Advisors help you make better decisions. An advisor might be your brother who runs his own profitable family farm, it might be a lifelong friend or mentor, it might be a trusted person you know from your volunteer work, or it might be a professional consultant, your banker, your lawyer. Advisors come in many forms.

But they have these kinds of qualities:

• Great judgement

• Analytical minds

• Strong communication skills

• Knowledge and experience

• Trustworthy

• Honest, even when they know you won't like it

• Technical and professional skills

According to succession planning experts, your farm succession planning requires input from certain professionals

• Lawyer

• Estate Planning

• Accountant/Taxation specialist

• Insurance professional

• Farm management specialist

• Financial planner/ advisor

• Banker/ lender

• Family or business coach / mediator

• Personal coach

Keep this list in mind as you line up your family’s advisors. There are worksheets included in your Succession Planning Workbook to help you evaluate potential advisors.