Family Land Transfer, Short Term Rentals, and Asset Protection

[Jeff Mance]

I am new to Bigger Pockets…

I stand to “inherit” 50% of an 82 acre mountain farm.  In the meantime, I would like to develop a small portion of the property and create a way of generating enough passive income to “buy out” the rest of the property from my brother.  

My hope would be to not do a land transfer until it is “inherited” as I would be looking at significant capital gains from property that was purchased in 1986.  The issue is the land is in extreme disrepair, and I plan to not only work on the infrastructure of the whole farm, I plan to build 6-10 cabins for short term rentals which would drastically increase the value of the property.

My biggest concern at the moment is that if something unfortunate were to happen to my mother, it would be possible for the land to be used a means of paying for medical expenses/Medicaid disqualification.  My understanding is a properly written irrevocable trust might alleviate this issue, but I wonder if this would disqualify me for an investment loan. 

Also, as I increase the value of the property, how could I keep from only receiving 50% of the return on my time/money investment since it would be set to be inherited by myself and my brother?

Any guidance would be most helpful.