What Is A Pour-Over Will?

For many people, establishing a revocable trust has many benefits. One of the main reasons people create these legal documents is to help their loved ones avoid the lengthy and costly probate process after they pass away. However, a trust is often not enough to outline your wishes, or ensure that your family members have the protection they need after your death. Along with drafting a revocable trust, it is often also recommended that you create a pour-over will. Below, our Daytona Beach wills lawyer explains more about these important documents.

Understanding Pour-Over Wills 

Pour-over wills are a type of last will and testament that transfers property to a trust after someone passes away. Pour-over wills are often used to supplement a revocable trust. Like traditional wills, a pour-over will can also help your family avoid the probate process, maintain confidentiality regarding your intentions for your estate, and address any property that was not transferred into the removable trust during your lifetime.

How to Fund a Trust 

Once you have established a revocable trust, it is considered a separate legal entity from you and your estate. You then must fund the trust, which involves placing property into it by retitling it from your name to the name of the trust. Legally, the property is then owned by the trust and not you. Still, you can manage it during your lifetime and sell it, give it away, or transfer it just as you would if it was never placed into the trust. Placing property into a trust can help your loved ones avoid probate, as the property does not belong to you but the trust.

You will also name a successor trustee when establishing a trust. This is the person who will manage the trust upon your death. The trustee you choose is required to act in accordance with the instructions in the trust.

When Assets are Omitted from a Trust 

People often omit property from a trust for a number of reasons. For example, someone might prepay for a vacation but then pass away before going on the trip. While the trip could likely be refunded, the refund would go into the probate estate and not the trust. In other instances, people may simply forget to place property into a trust. A pour-over will can help in these situations.

A pour-over will states that any property omitted from a trust before you pass away should be ‘poured over’ into the will. Essentially, a pour-over will acts as a contingency plan in the event that some assets are not placed into the trust.

Call Our Wills Lawyer in Daytona Beach Today 

There are many important legal tools to consider when creating your estate plan. Our Daytona Beach wills lawyer at Bundza & Rodriguez can advise on the tools available and help you draft the documents most important for your specific situation. Call us today at 386-252-5170 or chat with us online to schedule a consultation and to get the legal advice you need.

Source:

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0732/0732.html