Joseph William Singer referred to property rights as the “legal form of wealth.” Generally, your estate consists of four types of property:
personal assets, business assets, life insurance, and retirement benefits.
The easiest assets (things of value) to identify are the tangible items you own. These are your cash on hand, bank accounts, certificates of deposit, real property (such as your home or office), jewelry (heirloom), household effects (including furniture, lamps, rugs and appliances), trade tools, works of art, precious metals (platinum, silver or gold), collectibles (stamps, timepieces, coins, baseball or basketball cards, etc.), motor vehicles (including cars, bicycles, boats, mobile homes and let skis), securities (stocks, bonds, mutual funds), futures and options, interest and dividends (the ones you’re owed that have not been paid), treasury notes and treasury bills, savings bonds, investment property, vacation homes, annuities, payments from tort claims, income tax refunds, forgiven debts, dower interests, closely held businesses, lottery or gambling winnings, Social Security and Government Service Insurance System benefits, your interest in your professional practice, sole proprietorship’s, partnerships, and ventures in which you have an interest, pension and profit sharing plans, an individual retirement account and even group insurance, if bought through your practice. Your assets also include those that do not have any physical existence or intangible assets. These include intellectual property (copyrights, trademarks trade names and patents), inventions and something called “celebrity goodwill” (or a person’s ability to take commercial advantage of us or her image). Your nest egg may include all kinds of investments, inheritance, such as donations, gifts and bequests from your parents rid family members, also form part of your estate.