What Assets Can Be Included in an Estate?
When you start thinking about creating a will, you may think that you don’t really have an estate. You may visualize an estate as being a sprawling, hundred-acre property filled with priceless antiques. In reality, everything you own is part of your estate. Your estate can be worth a vast fortune or consist of smaller, sentimental items that you want passed down to your loved ones in a specific way. Your estate may include:
- Homes
- Cars
- Watercraft
- Aircraft
- Rental properties
- Furniture
- Artwork
- Jewelry
- Tools
- Musical instruments
- Fitness equipment
- Clothing
- Bank accounts
- Retirement plans
- Businesses
- Investments
The list goes on and on. If you have items that you want passed down to specific individuals, it is best to note that in your will or trust. For example, you can leave your fitness equipment to your friend from the gym, your furniture to your son, your tools to your daughter, etc. It is not necessary to specify every single item of your estate for a specific person. You can actually leave your entire state to one person, divide it equally among several people or even leave it to your favorite charity. It is not recommended that you leave your entire estate to your pet (although you can make provisions to have your pet well provided for after you pass away).
Probate May Be Required
Certain asset distributions may be reviewed by the courts through the probate process. For example, your home and cars, etc., that are owned under an individual basis (as opposed to company owned) may be subject to probate. Other assets such as retirement accounts or life insurance policies that have named beneficiaries within the accounts may not be subject to probate. This means that the payout will be automatic and will not have to go through probate.
If you are just starting the will creation process or want to update an existing will, please contact the Denver will lawyers at The Brown Law Firm, LLC. We may be able to help you identify assets you want to leave to specific people – assets you may not have thought about in that way but now realize they would be left to a specific person rather than sold to a stranger. We can also help you use the correct verbiage in your will or trust so your wishes are fully understandable to others. To learn more, please contact us at (303) 339-3750 or send us a message online.