A Pour-Over Will is an ancillary document created with a Revocable Living Trust. I like to call it “Plan B”. When I prepare a Revocable Living Trust for a Client, I always prepare a Pour-Over Will.
If my client dies with an asset titled solely in his or her name alone, and has no named beneficiaries, then the asset must go through the probate process. Probate is the process of changing title of assets at death. You need to use a Will through the probate process.
The Pour-Over Will is typically a brief document. The Pour-Over Will lists the names of your executors. The distribution provision of the Pour-Over Will states that the assets going through probate are distributed to your Revocable Living Trust. In other words, the asset pours into the Revocable Living Trust at death.
I want my clients to retitle their assets to the name of their Revocable Living Trust while they are alive. However, I cannot guarantee that every client will continue to title every asset to their trust. The Pour-Over Will is their safety net. The purpose of creating a Revocable Living Trust is to avoid probate. We create checklists and systems to assist our clients with funding their trusts. I also schedule periodic complimentary client review meeting with my clients to go over the titling of their assets. With the initial assistance during the establishment of the Revocable Living Trust and the client review meetings, you should feel good that your families will avoid the probate process upon your death.
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