What is a Pour-Over Will?

A pour-over will is a type of estate planning document that is designed to ensure that all of an individual’s remaining assets are transferred to a trust when the individual passes away. A pour-over will is designed to work in tandem with a trust-based estate plan.

If an individual desires to avoid probate when he/she passes away, that individual may want to use a trust as part of his/her estate plan. A trust creates a separate legal entity that owns the person’s assets and bypasses the probate process upon the death of the testator (the person who created the trust). However, it is up to the testator to ensure that all of the assets are transferred into the trust during that person’s lifetime, so all of those assets can be transferred outside of probate upon the individual’s death. In many cases, people forget to transfer some of their assets into the trust during their lifetime. When this happens, the assets that were not transferred into the trust have to go through the probate procedure.

The pour-over will simply directs that all of these left-over assets are transferred to (poured into) the trust. The purpose of this is to keep things as simple as possible because with everything now in the trust, there is only one document governing how the assets will be distributed.

In the event that the deceased neglects to transfer all of the assets into the trust, the pour-over will may still have to go through probate if there are significant assets that were not transferred into the trust. However, in Idaho, and many other states, there are special simplified procedures to probate limited asset estates. In Idaho, if the total value of the deceased assets is under $100,000, and there is no real property, then the person appointed as personal representative in the will can simply execute a Small Estate Affidavit and avoid the hassle of going through probate. As long as the deceased transferred all of his/her major assets to the trust, it is likely that the simplified procedures would apply, and the leftover assets would be easily transferred into the trust.

If you have questions about estate planning or you need assistance with preparing any estate planning documents, please contact the experienced attorneys at Brian Webb Legal for a consultation.