Not every asset that you own will be considered as part of your probate estate. Your probate estate includes assets that must be planned for either through your will or other estate planning means.
If you fail to include these assets in an unclear estate plan, intestate succession laws in your state will apply and this will determine what happens to those items. Your estate plan incorporates the documents and tools used to handle probate assets, but more than that, too.
Talking with your estate planning lawyer means that most of your conversation will center upon the probate assets, but your non-probate assets are worth consideration as well. This is because a knowledgeable estate planning lawyer thinks of your estate plan comprehensively as one big picture. While there may be different branches on that tree of how the assets will be distributed and managed, they all work together to help you accomplish your legacy, philanthropic goals and giving goals.
The average US adult has numerous non probate assets, such as life insurance policies or retirement accounts. However, many people don’t realize they need to establish separate beneficiary designations with the managers of those accounts to ensure that these transfer appropriately.
A knowledgeable estate planning lawyer in Pasadena is probably already aware that most individuals have problems keeping track of their non-probate assets and seeing how they fit into the bigger estate planning picture.
Make sure that your estate planning lawyer can help answer your questions around these and discuss how non-probate assets help to make up your overall strategy for transfer of assets.
