When someone passes away, one of the first steps in administering their estate is identifying what they owned. Understanding what counts as an asset is an important part of ensuring the estate is administered correctly.
An asset is anything of value that a person owned at the time of their death. During the administration process, these assets are identified, valued and distributed according to the deceased’s will or the laws of intestacy if no valid will exists. But what exactly counts as an estate asset?
What is an asset to an estate?
An asset in an estate is anything of value that a person owned or had a financial interest in at the time of their death. This can include property, personal belongings, bank accounts, investments, and other valuable items. These assets are identified and valued to determine the overall value of the estate.
Common estate assets
Property or land: This can include houses, commercial buildings, second homes, or land that was solely owned by the deceased.
Financial accounts: Current accounts, savings accounts, and other bank or building society accounts held in the deceased’s name may form part of the estate.
Investments: Stocks, shares, bonds, investment funds, and other financial investments owned by the deceased may need to be identified and valued.
Personal possessions: Valuable belongings such as vehicles, artwork, jewellery, antiques, and collectibles can also form part of an estate.
Business interests: These may include a sole trader business, a share in a partnership, or shares in a limited company, depending on the deceased’s ownership and the terms of any relevant agreements.
What is not considered as an asset?
While it may seem that everything a person owns automatically forms part of their estate, certain assets held jointly may pass directly to the surviving owner under the right of survivorship. Therefore, these assets do not usually form part of the estate for probate purposes. This can apply to jointly held bank accounts. Similarly, life insurance policies or pensions that have been specifically placed into a trust will generally pass to the trust rather than to the deceased’s estate. As well as assets that were gifted or sold before death will generally no longer be considered part of the estate.
How assets can change value overtime
In cases of intestacy, an asset search may need to be carried out to identify and value the deceased’s assets. The value of assets can change over time due to factors such as market demand, economic conditions, rarity and condition. Property is often one of the largest assets in an estate. According to research by Savills, UK house prices have increased by 257% since 2000.
Other assets, including antiques, artwork and collectibles may add value to an estate. This can depend on factors such as their rarity, condition and collector demand. To learn more, read our blog about how a comic book collection made a surprising contribution to an estate.
How Blanchards can help
Blanchards offers asset search services to both the legal and public sectors when administrating an estate. We search through different financial entities and policy holders to determine whether assets that were unknown or unclaimed. Our unclaimed asset search service can help identify assets located throughout the UK. To request an asset search, you must have a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration authorising you to act on behalf of the deceased. We will also require a copy of the death certificate. If you do not have this document, we can obtain it on your behalf. This is no cost to those in the public sector.
