**Intangible property** (noun) — Property that has value but no physical substance. Intangible property exists as legal rights, claims, or interests rather than as tangible objects you can touch or hold. Common examples include intellectual property, financial securities, contractual rights, and digital assets. Also called intangible assets.
Intangible property is property you can't physically touch, but it still has value and can be owned, transferred, and inherited.
Think of shares in a company. You don't hold a physical piece of the company in your hands, but you own a valuable right—a claim on the company's profits and assets. That's intangible property.
Other examples include patents, trademarks, copyrights, bank account balances, cryptocurrency, domain names, loyalty points, digital photos stored in the cloud, and even the goodwill associated with a business. These things don't have physical form, but they can be worth substantial amounts of money.
The distinction between tangible and intangible property matters for estate planning because they're often treated differently—in how they're valued, how they're transferred, and sometimes in how they're taxed. And intangible property can be easy to overlook when you're making your will or managing someone's estate, precisely because it's not physically present.
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When you're making a will, you need to think about your intangible property just as carefully as your tangible assets like houses and cars.
Do you own shares, cryptocurrency, or other investments? Do you have intellectual property like copyrights or patents? Do you have valuable digital assets like domain names, online businesses, or extensive digital photo libraries? All of these need to be dealt with in your estate plan.
The challenge with intangible property is that it's often not obvious to your executor or family that it exists. Unlike a house that everyone can see, intangible assets might exist only as electronic records or account statements. If you don't tell anyone about them, they might never be found.
This is why keeping good records is so important. Your executor needs to know what accounts you have, where your digital assets are stored, and how to access them. Some intangible property—like cryptocurrency held in a wallet only you can access—might be permanently lost if you don't leave clear instructions about how to recover it.
When you're drafting your will, make sure your residuary clause is broad enough to capture intangible property. A gift of "all my personal belongings" might not include shares or digital assets—you might need specific provisions or a broader clause that covers "all my property of whatsoever nature."
And if you're an executor, don't just look for physical assets. Check for bank statements, investment accounts, patent registrations, business interests, and digital property. Intangible assets can be just as valuable as tangible ones—sometimes more so.
**Related terms:** [Tangible property](/dictionary/tangible-personal-property), [Personal property](/dictionary/personal-property), [Digital assets](/dictionary/digital-assets), Estate assets
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