Rural property is not residential conveyancing
A rural transaction raises issues no residential contract contemplates, and a conveyance run as though it were a house purchase will miss most of them.
- Water entitlements — and whether they actually pass
- Resource tenures giving third parties access rights
- Vegetation management categories restricting clearing
- Stock, plant, standing crops and fodder
- Boundary fences and undocumented access arrangements
- Leases, agistment and share-farming arrangements
- Biosecurity obligations and property identification
- GST treatment and the going concern exemption
See our property page for the general conveyancing process, and the sections below for what is different.
Water
The single most consequential rural due diligence item. A water allocation is a separate asset from the land, recorded on the Water Allocations Register, and it does not pass automatically with a sale — the contract must deal with it expressly and the allocation must be transferred.
A water licence, by contrast, is generally attached to the land and passes with it. Knowing which you are buying, and checking the register before you sign, is the difference between acquiring a productive property and acquiring a dry one. See our water licensing page.
Resource companies and land access
If a resource company wants access, your reasonably and necessarily incurred costs of negotiating a conduct and compensation agreement — including legal and valuation advice — are generally payable by the company.
Landholders frequently sign the first draft without advice, believing they cannot afford it. In most cases they can, and the operational terms — access routes, biosecurity, notice, hours, water bores, rehabilitation — usually matter more to a working property than the compensation figure. See our land access and resumption page.
Farm succession
Farm succession is the hardest estate planning there is, because the asset is usually indivisible, illiquid, and the livelihood of the person who stays.
The recurring problem: one child worked the property for twenty years on low wages expecting to inherit it; the others expect an equal share; and the estate cannot deliver both without selling the farm. A will that simply divides everything equally frequently destroys the business it was meant to pass on.
- Who wants to farm, and who genuinely does not
- Whether off-farm assets can balance the position
- Life insurance to fund equalisation
- Staged transfer during your lifetime
- Options or rights of first refusal for the farming child
- Control of the trust, not just its assets
- The risk of a family provision claim
- Capital gains tax and duty on any transfer
Talk to the family before you draft the will. The most successful succession plans we see were discussed openly, sometimes uncomfortably, years in advance. The least successful were a surprise read out after the funeral.
Structures and control
Most farming enterprises operate through a combination of entities — land held personally or in a trust, the business run through a company or partnership, plant owned somewhere else again. That is often sensible, but it means succession is about control as much as ownership.
Who becomes appointor of the trust on your death frequently matters more than who inherits the shares. If the will and the trust deed have been prepared by different advisers who never spoke, they may point in different directions — and the trust deed usually wins.
What it costs
- Rural conveyancing quoted per transaction
- Succession planning quoted after a first meeting
- Land access costs generally paid by the resource company
- Searches and registration at cost
- We work with your accountant and agronomist
- Costs agreed with you before we start
Frequently asked questions
Not necessarily. A water allocation is a separate asset recorded on the Water Allocations Register and only passes if the contract expressly deals with it and the allocation is transferred. A water licence is generally attached to the land and passes with it. Check the register before you sign.
Generally not. A landholder's reasonably and necessarily incurred costs of negotiating a conduct and compensation agreement, including legal and valuation advice, are generally payable by the resource company. Many landholders sign the first draft without advice believing they cannot afford it.
There is rarely a solution that is equal and workable at the same time, because the farm is usually indivisible and illiquid. Options include balancing with off-farm assets, life insurance to fund equalisation, staged transfer during your lifetime, and options or rights of first refusal for the farming child. Discuss it with the family before the will is drafted.
Trust assets are owned by the trust, not by you, so they do not pass under your will. What matters is who becomes appointor or controller of the trust, which is governed by the trust deed. If your will and trust deed were prepared by different advisers they may point in different directions, and the deed usually prevails.
Water entitlements, resource tenures giving third parties access, vegetation management categories restricting clearing, treatment of stock, plant and standing crops, undocumented boundary and access arrangements, biosecurity obligations, and GST and going concern treatment. None of these arise in a residential conveyance.
More information
We understand rural and agribusiness law. Our experience is based on many years of legal practice, and a number of our team are directly involved in the sector. Whatever your rural operation, be it cattle, cotton, wheat or other enterprise, our experienced rural lawyers will guide you through the legal issues.
Drawing from a highly experienced team of lawyers, a number of whom come from rural enterprises, we frame our advice in a way that is relevant, concise and practical.
We assist small family operations through to large corporate enterprises and industry leaders being commercial cattle producers, stud breeders, dryland and irrigated cotton and grain farmers, heavy machinery and transport operators and feed lotters.
Every farm is different. We will actively work with you to build a solution or strategy that fits you and your goals. You can rely on us to help you deal with the day to day pressures and demands of carrying on a business while equipping you to plan for and adapt to future demands and opportunities.
We can assist with:
- Property and Water Transactions
- Environment and Vegetation Management Issues
- Conversion of Tenure and Native Title
- Mining Resumptions and Compensation
- Livestock or Crop disputes
- Succession and Estate Planning
- Disputes and Litigation
- Share Farming, Leasing and Agistment
- Mortgages and Securities including the PPSR
- Business Structures and Taxation
- Human Resources and Employment
- Workplace Health & Safety
We can also assist with:
- Business Structuring
- Business Acquisitions
- Business Succession, Shareholder & Management Agreements
- Franchising
- Commercial Leasing
- Commercial Property Conveyancing
- Hiring and Chattel Leases
- Partnerships, Companies & Trusts
- Banking and Finance
- Planning and Environment
- Mining Resource and Resumption
- Taxation
- Insolvency
- Personal Property Security Register
- Mediation
- Business
- Business Structuring
- Business Acquisition
- Agribusiness
- Insolvency
- Franchising
- Commercial Leasing
- Banking and Finance
- Planning and Environment
- Mining, Resource and Resumption
- Mediation
- Not sure where to start?
Extensive Experience
Our professional team has extensive experience in a wide range of legal areas. Our approach is one of planning and involvement. We will continue to be there to support you with accurate and timely advice.
This page is general information about the law as it applies in Queensland, current as at 2026. It is not legal advice and does not take your circumstances into account. Figures set by regulation are indexed and change. Speak to one of our lawyers before acting.