The Virginia Department of Forestry and the Virginia Cooperative Extension encourage landowners to make plans – now – for passing on their land to the next generation. The Generation NEXT program, a collaboration between VDOF and VCE, helps Virginia landowners make plans to keep forests intact, in forest, and in family.
To help landowners get started and clarify misconceptions about the legacy planning process, the Generation NEXT Program is hosting in-person and virtual workshops this summer and fall. The workshops, one of which will take place in Galax, serve as opportunities for family members to ask difficult questions, receive useful information, and get on the same page about their plans for the future.
Typically, these sessions are only in-person, but a virtual workshop has been added so dispersed families can also take advantage of these helpful resources and tools that make the planning process more accessible and manageable.
Workshop Information
Families pay a single fee to participate. Registration opens up six weeks prior to each workshop. Visit the VCE website for more information.
The Southwest Virginia in-person will take place in Galax on Oct. 27.
Virtual: Sept. 7, 8, 14, and 15. (All virtual workshops take place from 3 to 5 p.m.)
“Many landowners are overwhelmed by the legacy planning process and assume that it primarily involves complicated estate planning with attorneys and accountants,” said VDOF Forestland Conservation Program Manager Karl Didier. “The Generation NEXT program helps to ease estate planning and demonstrates how it’s just one part of the ongoing legacy planning process. Much like a forest changes over time, your plans will evolve. As priorities change or family dynamics shift, so should plans for your land.”
“One of the most important steps in legacy planning includes conversations between the landowner and the people who will steward their land after they’re gone,” said Generation NEXT Program Coordinator Karen Snape. “When unforeseen events occur before clearly established plans for your estate and land can be put in place, things can quickly become complicated for surviving family members. Having these conversations now is critical.”
