Components of a Philadelphia Estate

All your assets are included in your estate. For estate planning purposes, your estate includes all the assets that you own at your death that could be used to pay your debts. This would include things that you own in your own name or things that you own jointly with others, including real property and bank accounts. It also includes your personal property, such as jewelry, cars or furniture. Your assets may also include your qualified plans (IRAs, 401ks, etc.) and life insurance, assets that you typically would have beneficiary designations.

For Federal Estate Tax and Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax purposes, the value of your estate is equal to the fair market value of all of the various assets that make up your estate, reduced by various deductions such as loans and mortgages you may have on the estate property.

A good estate plan will analyze your estate to determine if there are ways to reduce the Federal Estate Tax or Pennsylvania Inheritance Taxes, and to make sure that your estate has adequate liquid assets available to pay the taxes at your death.

Wills, Trusts and Estates, It’s All We Do!