There is a lot to consider when estate planning, so it is easy to forget things. One thing you don’t want to forget is any of your assets. Leaving assets unaccounted for could cause problems when you pass.
Here are two sets of things to remember to account for:
Non-physical assets
Maybe you wrote a song or a play. It doesn’t make you much money but it does earn you something. Ensuring you designate who will get the intellectual property rights will allow them to benefit from this income after you have gone.
Perhaps you have things stored in the cloud, such as photos. Or maybe most of your photos are on your social media accounts. You can use your estate plan, or the options that sometimes come on these accounts, to give someone access after you die.
Items with sentimental rather than financial value
If an item that means a lot to someone, such as a particular painting hanging on the wall, also has high financial worth, then you’ll probably remember to include it in your estate plan. You know it’s worth a lot of money and consider it as an asset.
Yet, most people have plenty of other possessions that they may not consider assets, because they are not worth much money. That does not mean they won’t mean a lot to someone in your family. Items like your wedding dress or your great-grandfather’s woodworking tools could be highly prized by some of your family. Accounting for them in your will can ensure you give them to the appropriate person.
Taking legal guidance to make your estate plan can help you determine how to deal with particular assets as well as help you remember everything you need to do.