32
Years in Bozeman
$450M
Assets under management
9
People
Montana families whose wealth sits in land, not a stock portfolio. Here is how that usually shows up.
A family who ran cattle or hay ground for decades and closed on a sale, sometimes to a conservation buyer, and now holds more cash than they have ever seen.
Land in Montana rarely comes with a simple deed. Mineral rights and easements get discovered mid-transaction, and they change the tax picture.
Most of these families, between 55 and 70, are self-made and sharp but never had to manage money at this size before. Nobody here treats a question as small.
10 questions · 3 minutes
This quiz is educational and not personalized advice.
Your result
The land is not yet set up to pass cleanly, and the part that usually causes trouble is not the paperwork but the conversation. Both are workable, and starting early is what keeps the choice yours.
The intent is clear and the structure is partly there. What is normally missing at this stage is liquidity: the cash that stops a tax bill from forcing a sale.
The structure, the documents and the family conversation are aligned. From here it is a matter of keeping them aligned as the family and the tax rules change.
After a ranch sale or a conservation easement, the order of decisions matters. This is the path we walk with Montana families, one step at a time.
We look at how the sale was structured and how any conservation easement changes what your family actually keeps.
We turn proceeds from land or a section sold into income you can count on for the years ahead.
We set up giving to the causes your family cares about, timed and structured to fit the rest of the picture.
We put a plan in place for what's left, so the next generation inherits clarity along with the land or the proceeds.
An easement can lower the sale price a buyer pays, but it may also lower your tax bill and qualify you for certain deductions. The numbers depend on your specific land and situation. We sit down with your attorney and accountant before anything is signed, so you see the real after-tax picture, not just the sticker price.
Sometimes, yes. It depends on what income the rest of your assets can produce and what you need to live on. We run the numbers both ways, keeping a section versus selling the whole property, so you can decide with real figures in front of you instead of a guess.
Mineral rights and surface rights can be sold together or separately. Many families choose to keep mineral rights even after selling the land itself. We help you understand what you own, what a buyer is actually asking for, and how that choice affects your income down the road.
There are ways to set money aside for education that still let you decide how and when it gets used. We talk through the options in plain terms and help you pick one that fits your family, without locking you into something you cannot change later.
Your lawyer and accountant each handle their own piece. Our job is to look at the whole picture, what the sale means for your retirement, your taxes over time, and what you leave your kids, and make sure all three of you are working from the same numbers.
A succession plan usually covers who takes over a property or business. If you are selling outright, you may not need one for the land, but you likely still need a plan for what happens to the sale proceeds and how they pass to your family later.
Come by our Main Street office in Bozeman for a no-pressure conversation about your ranch, your family, and what comes next. You will hear from one of us within one business day.
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