Why Legacy List exists

Anyone can call themselves an estate planner. Not many have actually worked with a farm.

That's the problem Legacy List exists to fix.

Farm and ranch families deal with things a general estate planning practice usually hasn't seen up close. Multiple generations working the same ground. Land that's worth a lot on paper but doesn't throw off much cash. A kid who wants to farm and a kid who doesn't, and a plan that has to hold up for both of them. None of that shows up much in a practice built around city clients and stock portfolios.

Here's what's actually at stake. The average U.S. farmer is over 58 now, and only about a third of farm and ranch families have a real succession plan in place. American Farmland Trust estimates 40% of U.S. agricultural land will change hands in the next 15 years as landowners age out. That's a lot of family land changing hands in a short window, mostly without a plan behind it.

So we built a list. Every attorney, CPA, financial advisor, succession consultant, lender, insurance professional, and appraiser on Legacy List has real, hands-on experience with agricultural operations. Not a class they took once. Actual client work with actual farms and ranches.

How we vet

Before anyone's listed, we check two things.

Real ag experience

  • We look at their actual client history for ag-specific work.
  • We confirm they're still taking this kind of client today, not just one they handled a decade ago.

Credentials, checked at the source

  • Attorneys: the state bar's public license lookup
  • Financial advisors: FINRA BrokerCheck or the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure database, plus CFP Board's own site if they claim that certification
  • CPAs: the state Board of Accountancy's license lookup
  • Enrolled Agents: the IRS directory of credentialed tax preparers
  • Succession consultants: there's no license board for this role, so we confirm real certifications, like an IFTN Farm Succession Coordinator credential, plus recent hands-on work with farm and ranch transitions
  • Insurance professionals: the state insurance department's producer license records, including a crop line of authority for anyone selling crop insurance
  • Appraisers: the state appraiser licensing board or the Appraisal Subcommittee's National Registry. States don't license appraisers who value only equipment or livestock, so there we look at training and professional designations
  • Lenders: most ag lenders don't carry an individual license, so we confirm the lending organization is active and that the lender is actively working in an ag lending role

Nobody pays to be here

No one pays a fee to get listed here, and we don't get a cut if you hire someone off it. No referral fees, no sponsored spots, no thumb on the scale. People make this list because we think they do good work for families like yours, not because they wrote us a check.

We keep it small on purpose

This isn't meant to be a directory of everyone. It's meant to be a short list you can actually trust. If that means fewer names than a search engine turns up, that's fine. That was the point.

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