Do You Need a ‘Pour-Over’ Will?

A revocable living trust gives a married couple or individual the power to direct what should happen after they die to assets and possessions placed within a Revocable Trust. The trust also indicates who should be in charge of carrying out these instructions without the involvement of a probate court judge, explains a recent article, “How does a Pour-Over Will work?” from Coeur d’Alene/Post Falls Press.

A Last Will and Testament, referred to as a “will,” is the traditional document that leaves instructions about what you want to happen to your assets when you die and includes the name of your executor, the person you want to carry out your wishes. If you have a will, do you still need a trust? Probably.

A Revocable Living Trust will only concern the specific assets and possessions you’ve placed into the trust. This is known as “funding the trust.” When the trust is first established, your estate planning attorney will help you with the steps needed to ensure that assets are retitled so they are owned not by you but by the trust.

As time passes, if you acquire new assets or possessions, you might forget to have them placed in the trust. This is a common oversight and can have major implications for the success of your overall estate plan.

If you die and there are assets outside of the trust, they will likely need to go through the court-controlled probate process. You were trying to avoid this in the first place by establishing a trust.

If you don’t have a will, these assets will be distributed according to state law instead of your wishes.

There is a solution—the Pour-Over Will.

A Pour-Over Will is a little different than a traditional will. It includes specific instructions to place any assets not placed inside your trust into the trust as soon as possible. This type of will still has to go through probate, but probate will only apply to assets left out of the trust and can typically be probated less formally.

While the goal in using a Revocable Trust is to avoid probate completely, the Pour-Over Will is an important “just in case” document to have if you have Trusts.

Parents of minor children have yet another reason to have a Pour-Over Will, even when there is a Revocable Living Trust. A will is used to name the person or people you want to serve as guardians for your minor children, if both parents are deceased. Leaving this decision to be made by the court rather than by you is something to be avoided at all costs.

An experienced California probate lawyer in Los Angeles can help you understand the benefits of Revocable Living Trusts and Pour-Over Wills.

If you have any questions, schedule a free appointment with us through our online appointment page. We would be happy to see how we can help.

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Reference: Coeur d’Alene/Post Falls Press (Sep. 10, 2023) “How does a Pour-Over Will work?”