Sit down with all the principals (and wives, if necessary) and talk it all out. What you want. What they want. What the potential of the ranch is for the next 2 years, 5 years, 10 years.
Best to have a "5 year plan". Where will the ranch be in 5 years? And. how are you going to get there? Write it all down. Have everyone sign off in "agreement".
12 months later are you headed in the right or wrong direction. 24 months later? 36? 48?
Expect the Unexpected.
As to your specific questions, it is all negotiable unless the points are "non-negotiable". Figure out what YOU want, and what will THEY agree to. Do you need them or do they need you?
And have a "divorce" clause. Bad partnerships can be worse than bad marriages. No Sex, among other things.
My father owns a ranch but will be retiring soon. He plans to hand the ranch over to his two youngest sons (Adam & Barry). Since all four of us siblings have a part in the ranch, my other brother (Caleb) & I have the option to stay in (invest/work) or buy out. Caleb will be buying out, but I'm leaning toward investing. My question is...how will this work?
I guess the best way to explain what I want here is to tell you my ideal situation & see if that's even possible. So here it is...In my perfect ending of the family ranch, I would invest a large proportion of my part back into the ranch. I would receive monthly checks based on the percentage of earnings made during that 30-day period. I would be notified on large purchases & any expansions to the ranch.
So specifically, I guess I'm asking...
-How much should I invest of my part back into the ranch?
-Is it possible to receive monthly checks of a percentage of the earnings?
-If not, how often do you get your investment checks? Every six months? Annually?
-As a share holder in a private company, what kind of power do I hold?
-These are my brothers & I trust them whole heartedly, but I'm not naive...what kind of legal precautions should be taken before doing this?
-And for my pathos side... My brothers have worked since they could walk on this ranch. I've been pampered & have only had the joy of freshly branded cattle on Saturday mornings. I've met insane people, ate pizza straight out of an old stone oven in a small town in Italy & paraded pictures of date parties in Denver and San Antonio and Dallas across my brothers' Facebook news feeds. They've worked. And worked. I've helped, but I haven't worked.
Is it rude for me to be in it half-assed once again?
