Pour-Over Will

What Is A Pour-Over Will? 

A pour-over will is a type of will that leaves all your assets to the trustee in a trust when you pass away. It is used to transfer your properties into a trust during your lifetime. 

Deeper Definition

The majority of people who do real estate planning have a revocable living trust. A revocable living trust is a document that you sign as part of your estate plan. The purpose of this is that your relatives won’t need to go through a probate process upon your death. A probate process is a process whereby a will is filed with the court. Not only is it stressful, but it can also be expensive due to legal fees. That is the advantage of a pour-over will. It saves your relative’s emotional process of probate and also going to court.

The term of your trust says where your asset should go, without the need to file a will with the court to start a probate process. When you have a revocable living trust, you have to re-title all the assets you have into the name of your trust. Also, it is more likely to accumulate more assets that aren’t in the name of your trust yet before you pass away. In this situation, your relatives will have to go through a probate process. The asset will go through the will and then be poured over back into the trust. In a simpler term, a pour-over will take your non-trust asset to trust asset.

A pour-over will also be a will where you designate guidance for your minor children. As a parent, you can direct a specific portion for your children’s education and a limited amount they can access each year.

One significant advantage of a pour-over will is its privacy. It keeps the extent of your assets and the details of your beneficiary’s inheritance private since there isn’t a need to go through a probate process where most of your relatives will be present.

Pour-Over Will Example

Mr. Bond puts all his assets into a trust and uses his wife and kids as his beneficiaries. However, he accumulated more properties that he hadn’t put into his trust yet before he died. Now, Mrs. Bond and the trust have to go through a probate process to pour over Mr. Bond’s new assets into the trust.