Some types of assets in your estate require that special plans be made to handle them after you pass away. These are assets that you cannot merely give away in a will or trust.
Many assets you have are easy to distribute after you pass away. For example, it is easy to give someone the proceeds of financial accounts in most cases. However, there are other assets that require careful planning and may even require special estate planning tools to be used.
The Lake County News recently published a list of some of these special assets in an article titled “Estate Planning: Planning for special assets.”
Here is part of their list:
- Businesses – There are some businesses that require specific licenses. These businesses cannot merely be turned over to someone without the required license. Someone who is licensed will have to wrap up the business affairs.
- Firearms – Weapons also require licenses. They need to be given to someone with a license or placed in trust.
- Pets – You cannot just give your pet to anyone. You have to plan for how your pet will be cared for after you pass away.
- Jewelry – Expensive jewelry needs to be carefully identified and designated to make sure it does not disappear.
- Vacation Property – If you want your family to continue to enjoy vacation property after you pass away, then you need to make plans for that, too.
This is not a comprehensive list of special assets, but it should give you an idea about what types of assets need to be handled with care in your estate plan. Fortunately, with the assistance of an elder law or estate planning attorney, all of these special assets can be handled and distributed the way you want.
Reference: The Lake County News (August, 15 2014) “Estate Planning: Planning for Special Assets“
