Initial steps
You may be looking to buy, sell or lease livestock or start to transfer the ownership of the herd gradually for future planning purposes. We'll ask you lots of questions about your plans and get a picture of what's involved. Once we've got our heads around your proposal, we'll chat with you and your accountant about any concerns you have (often tax is a big thing to consider when looking at the transfer of livestock).
What we'll consider
Properly dealing with livestock can be a tricky area of law. Documenting an agreement properly will involve thinking about who carries the risk in the animals, when ownership transfers between the parties, who pays for feed and vet costs, who gets to keep the milk cheque, who owns the calves and what happens if the relationship breaks down between the parties part way through the agreement.
After the agreement is signed
Once we've documented the agreement, we'll also consider the need to make a registration on the Personal Property Securities Register to keep the agreement as enforceable as possible.
It is really important that you stick to the terms of the agreement or document any variations you've agreed to in writing during the term of the arrangement.