Farm subsidy payments

filipo

Hi,
I initially intended to contact a solicitor to get direct info on this but since they are closed for the weekend i was hoping i could gain some light on farm subsidy payments for shared ownership of land.

The shared ownership is in place after the death of my grandmother and she left portions of farm land to her two sons.

One of her sons is my father. He is entitled to use this shared land according to her will and has farm maps to prove it etc showing the entitlement. He is entitled to use it until his death. This is also the case for my uncle (my fathers brother). Both of them use this land. The land is in both their names and when they die it is passed to my uncles son.

She died in 2000 and we have reason to believe my dads brother has been taking the farm subsidy payment for this shared land and no notification was given to my father and did not receive his entitlement for use of the land.

I am just wondering if anyone knows any further detail regarding farm subsidies and what way they operate for shared ownership of land in which both farmers are using it. For my uncle to receive them farm subsidies does he require my fathers signature to authorise he gets the full payment?

Thanks for any replies in advance and sorry if any of this is confusing.

[Deleted User]

This is a complex problem needing proper legal advice,and as such i doubt you will get any advice on a forum like this(or any other tbh)

rogerblack

Perhaps the DEFRA website may be of use.

bigadaj

The sums involved with subsidies are typically small if the land area is small and also depends on it being actively farmed. My uncle died just under two years ago and my mother and aunt inherited the property. In their case the land was rented out and with the payment for environmental care included was around two thousand a year for about forty acres. The money is also not just given out and needs to be actively claimed yearly with the completion of numerous forms. The first thing would be for your father to speak to his brother to ascertain what is actually happening with the land, if his brother is actively farming it then he is the one entitled to the subsidy payments.

filipo

Thank you for your replies and i guess it will need a little more consultation legally. I think bigadaj you are spot on about claiming for it every year with numerous forms. Because of this i was wondering how he was able to claim for it if my father also owned the land and farmed it. There must be some form of security with it that one can not put a claim in for land they dont own outright if you get my reasoning.

Notmyrealname

Farm subsidies are paid to the business, not an individual. If the business is a partnership or Ltd Compay, the subsidy is classed as income and divided up as per the percentages stated in the formation of the partnership or paid through dividends on company shares.

There must be some form of security with it that one can not put a claim in for land they dont own outright if you get my reasoning.

Of course someone who doesn't own the land outright can claim. Many farmers are actually tenant farmers such as those on the Duchy of Cornwall land.