If the goal of estate planning is to avoid probate, it seems counter intuitive that one would sign a will, but the pour over will is an essential part of some estate plans, reports the Times Herald-Record’s article “Pour-over will a safety net for a living trust.”

If a person dies with assets in their name alone and without some contractual beneficiary which avoids probate (e.g. life insurance) those assets go through probate. The pour over will names the trust as the beneficiary of probate assets, so the trust controls who receives the inheritance. The pour over will works as a backup plan to the trust, and it also revokes past wills and codicils.

Living trusts became more widely used after a 1991 AARP study concluded that families should be using trusts rather than wills. Trusts were suddenly not just for the wealthy. Middle class people started using trusts rather than wills, to save time and money and avoid estate battles among family members. Trusts also served to keep financial and personal affairs private. Wills that are probated are public documents that anyone can review.  See here for more details.  https://galligan-law.com/how-do-trusts-work-in-your-estate-plan/

The one downfall to a trust is that it must be properly funded to work right.  As I said earlier, you probate assets in your name that do not pass by contractual obligation.  So, the trust must either own assets itself (“funding it”), have assets pass to it (e.g. the life insurance pays to the trust) or you must have some other mechanism for an asset to get to the trust or beneficiaries, such as a “joint tenants with rights of survivorship” account.  The pour over will is the safety net that makes sure if you missed something or obtained an asset you didn’t expect, there is still a way to get that asset to the trust and ultimately to your beneficiaries after death.

Speak with an experienced estate planning attorney to talk about how probate may impact your heirs and see if they believe the use of a trust and a pour over will would make the most sense for your family, and how best to fund the trust to accomplish your goals.

Reference: Times Herald-Record (Sep. 13, 2019) “Pour-over will a safety net for a living trust.”