what is 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 understanding estatesthe word estate is colloquially used to refer to all of the land and improvements on a vast property often some farm or homestead or the historic home of a prominent family however in the financial and legal sense of the term an estate refers to everything of value that an individual owns real estate art collections antique items investments insurance and any other assets and entitlements and is also used as an overarching way to refer to a person s net worth legally a person s estate refers to an individual s total assets minus any liabilities the value of a personal estate is of particular relevance in two cases if the individual declares bankruptcy and if the individual dies when an individual debtor declares bankruptcy their estate is assessed to determine which of their debts they can be reasonably expected to pay bankruptcy proceedings involve the same rigorous legal assessment of an estate that also occurs upon an individual s death estates are most relevant upon the death of an individual estate planning is the act of managing the division and inheritance of your personal estate and arguably represents the most important financial planning of an individual s life it s important to keep in mind that every country has specific rules about passing on wealth the allowed amounts and the approved estate planning trusts generally an individual draws up a will that explains the testator s intentions for the distribution of their estate upon their death a person who receives assets through inheritance is called a beneficiary 