What types of assets are used in determining my net worth?

Inheritance and gifts are often part of the authenticated source of investment funds. Please consult with EB-5 immigration and securities attorneys to assist you.

Liquid assets can be used to calculate net worth. Inheritance in a will may not be used in calculating net worth.

Net worth is important for EB-5 regional-center-based investments because you must be an accredited investor in order to participate in that program. USCIS does not require you to show that you are an accredited investor to file for an EB-5 visa. If you are an intended beneficiary in a Will but there is no probate of an estate in place or an equivalent inheritance proceeding in your jurisdiction, and you have not actually received or are not actually expected to receive funds through inheritance, then you will not be able to demonstrate that the funds are sourced from inheritance. Being named in a Will is not sufficient to count those assets. A Will comes into effect when a person who executed a Will passes away and you must be in receipt of funds from inheritance to count them as lawful source of funds.

Ordinarily, supporting documents are not necessary to show you are an accredited investor. An inheritance from a will is definitely an acceptable source of income.

Please note that neither the EB-5 law nor the regulations require a showing of net worth. The requirement is to demonstrate that the invested capital was lawfully obtained. The net worth figure is important to regional centers and securities issuers in order to qualify an EB-5 investor as a qualified or accredited investor so that the issuer can claim a securities exemption, thereby avoiding having to register the security offering with the SEC. In most cases, the assets required should be in your own name. Being named in a will as a beneficiary is not an asset and does not contribute to your net worth for the purposes of qualifying as an accredited investor.

All assets must be counted, including an inheritance in a will. However, inheritance can be tricky as it must be properly evaluated before being added as an asset. Therefore, make sure you have a good evaluation from estate appraisers particularly if the assets in question involve real estate. Also, the will assigning that property to you must be tendered as well as part of your documentation at least in part to confirm that those assets are part of your net worth. Lastly, the language of your will also play a significant role on your rights to those assets.

In general, an inheritance that has not been received will NOT count as an asset of the investor because he/she has no vested interest in the inheritance. At any time, the investor could be disinherited. However, if there was a real gift contract, a promissory note or some other sort of evidence that something is or will irrevocably be transferred to the investor, then that probably would count as an asset for net worth purposes.

For the purposes of Regulation D, all assets are included with the exception of your permanent residence.

In order for the inheritance to be included as your assets, you must be in possession of the inheritance (ie., should have the money/assets already transferred to you; you must not be just listed in a will).

In order to determine net worth for the purposes of qualifying as an accredited investor, the test is assets minus liabilities and cannot include the value of the primary residence of the investor. A contingent right to an asset, such as a potential future inheritance, will also not qualify. However, once the assets have been inherited, they may be included.

You would need to have the money. Just being named in a will that has not been distributed to you would not be an asset.