You would be correct if you pointed to Investopedia’s definition of an estate:
An estate is everything comprising the net worth of an individual, including all land and real estate, possessions, financial securities, cash, and other assets that the individual owns or has a controlling interest in.
Each person has an estate during their life and following their death. The difference between a person’s estate during life and death is that after death the estate technically becomes a separate legal entity. Consider the Internal Revenue Service’s definition of an estate:
- An estate (or decedent estate) is a legal entity created as a result of
a person’s death.- The estate consists of the real and/or personal property of the deceased person.
- The estate pays any debts owed by the decedent and distributes the
balance of the estate’s assets to the beneficiaries of the estate.- An estate arises on a person’s death whether the person died with or without a will.
It is also worth pointing out that since you have an “estate” you need to make an “estate plan”, a topic that is discussed several places on this Blog: Here, Here and Here to mention a few.
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