Wills / Pour Over Wills

Secure Your Legacy with a Pour-Over Will

Planning for the future can be daunting, but it’s essential to protect your loved ones and your assets.  David R. Schneider, APC specializes in helping you navigate the complexities of Estate Planning, ensuring your wishes are honored without the burden of expensive and lengthy probate proceedings.

Don’t let the state decide your estate’s fate. Let David guide you through the process of creating a pour-over will. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation.

What is a Pour-Over Will?

A pour-over will is an essential component of a comprehensive estate plan, ensuring that any assets not titled in the name of your revocable trust are transferred to the trust upon your passing. This legal tool acts as a safety net, catching any assets you might have forgotten to title in your trust, specifically smaller value assets such as cars, boats, RV’s.

How Does a Pour-Over Will Work?

When creating a trust, it’s common to miss titling some assets into the trust’s name. For example, everyday items like cars or personal belongings might remain outside the trust. A pour-over will addresses this by naming your trust as the sole beneficiary, ensuring these assets are transferred to your trust after your death. This process helps streamline the administration of your estate and avoid probate by providing a single set of rules for these assets.

Unless you drive a very expensive car, say a Ferrari, Lamborghini, etc., most cars will be valued less than the trigger point that necessitates a probate proceeding, which is presently $184,500. Some newer motorhomes may be over this limit, some expensive boats in the slip in harbor may be over this limit – these assets will still need to be titled in the name of your trust. However, the everyday cars, ski boats, etc., do not.

While it is not necessary to re-title an everyday car in the name of the trust, this will present us with a problem. If the car remains titled in the name of the decedent, can the trustee of the trust sell the car? The answer is no. Why? Because the car was not titled in the name of the trust.

So in this instance, we have a Will which names an executor to handle the last affairs of the decedent and the executor can then sell the car. The person you name as the executor of your Will is the same person you named as the successor trustee of your trust – same person, two different jobs.

This is referred to as a Pour-Over Will because it only names one beneficiary – the trust. The executor sells the car, gets the $5000 and gives it to the beneficiary, the trust, and that money is added to the trust estate. In this manner, we have only one set of rules, and all our instructions are in alignment.

The secondary reason we use a Will with the trust agreement is that it is the executor of the Will who deals with the burial, funeral, memorial decisions for the decedent.

Benefits of a Pour-Over Will

• Seamless Asset Transfer: Ensures all your assets are managed under one set of rules as specified in your trust.
• Avoids Probate: Keeps your estate out of lengthy probate proceedings for assets not initially titled in the trust.
• Peace of Mind: Provides a backup plan for any assets you might acquire later or forget to title in your trust.

Estate planning can be complex, but you don’t have to navigate it alone. Our experienced attorneys are here to help you understand the intricacies of pour-over wills, trusts, and other estate planning tools.

Contact us today to set up your free consultation and ensure your assets are protected and distributed according to your wishes.