Understanding what you own and what you don’t own as part of your estate is important for the purposes of estate planning. Certain assets pass outside of the probate or estate process, and you’ll want to have appropriate plans in place to protect your loved ones for each type. 
Estate Assets
Assets that are owned in your personal name are known as estate assets. Without any other advanced planning techniques in place, these will pass on to your loved ones according to the terms of your will or if you do not have a will, the laws of intestate succession. There are many other assets that people believe they own that will fall as part of their estate but they actually don’t.
Non-Estate Assets
For example, you don’t have ownership rights to assets held in a family trust for which you may be a beneficiary. Furthermore, if you own any of your property as joint tenants with another person, you are not eligible to gift your share of that property to another person under your will, because these are non-estate assets.
Planning for Estate and Non-Estate Assets
Even if your assets are not necessarily going to pass directly through your estate, you still need to plan ahead for them. Talking with your estate lawyer about the big picture can help you understand how to tie it all together to accomplish your estate goals.
To better understand all of the different kinds of assets that can influence your estate, it’s important to connect with a knowledgeable estate lawyer in MA who can help you prepare a comprehensive plan with all of these unique concerns in mind.
