Agricultural law

Agricultural Law is a field that has a special place in our firm’s heart. We use our copious experience in this field to advise you on both legal and operative matters regarding your agricultural estate (e.g. acquisition or hand-over of farms, purchase/sale of property, change of generations in the business) as best as possible.

• Transfer of farms and agricultural land (including related public law procedures)
• Drafting of agreements on easements and charges over real property
• Advice on investments and structuring of agricultural enterprises
• Special inheritance law for certain types of farms (Erbhöferecht)

Although agricultural law is not given much attention by most commercial law firms, we find this niche area highly interesting: not only does it require detailed knowledge of real estate law, but the reality of farmers‘ lives must also be taken into account here. Often, the relevant contractual relationships are concluded between people who have known each other for decades and want to continue working alongside or even with each other for a long time in the future. It therefore takes special tact to work in this area of law.

We not only provide support in the acquisition or transfer of farms and the sale/purchase of agricultural land, we also include the interpersonal component. This can also mean negotiating with other persons in addition to the parties concerned in order to be able to make a sale economically viable. Servitudes and land charges are of great practical importance, as are knowledge of and compliance with public law provisions, such as the law on subsidies or the individual land transfer laws of the Austrian provinces. Thanks to our extensive experience, we advise farmers comprehensively on all their business issues and thus secure a solid and future-oriented livelihood for our clients.

Many farms are particularly preoccupied with the change of generations. It is important to reconcile the interests of all generations involved and also to take into account the – not always advantageous – regulatory environment. Here we benefit not only from our special knowledge of the inheritance laws of the various provinces, but also from our sense of sustainable management.