By Jessica Groskopf, Dave Aiken & Allan Vyhnalek
Nebraska Extension
Some farm leases are not written but are verbal or "handshake" agreements. Because nothing is in writing, the parties may have different recollections of their agreement, making lease disputes more difficult to resolve.
The most common legal issue associated with verbal farm leases is how a lease may legally be terminated. For both year-to-year leases and holdover leases, six months advance notice must be given to legally terminate the lease. However, the lease date (the date from which the six months is counted) may be different. In contrast, the termination of a written lease is determined by the terms of the written lease.
Terminating verbal leases
