Creating an estate plan is a beneficial way to enforce your wishes over your estate after your life. It can involve various legal and financial arrangements that may work together to cover all your assets, including trusts and wills. If you establish a living trust, it can work in tandem with a pour-over will. This tool can address some scenarios with complications that may impact how you organize and distribute your assets.
Knowing when to use a pour-over will
If you have a trust, you can also create a will that transfers residual assets into it after your death. This pour-over will can cover other properties and belongings you did not include in your trust before passing on. It can be helpful in specific scenarios, including the following:
- You intentionally kept some assets out of your trust for personal reasons but want to include them in your trust’s administration later on.
- You have distinct instructions regarding your estate and want to cover other assets outside the trust.
- You want your chosen beneficiaries to receive their inheritances through the trust and prevent legal issues hindering the process.
This will can serve as a catch-all setup, covering the testator’s residual assets and defining what happens to them after death.
Determining if a pour-over will is necessary
You may feel inclined to draft a pour-over will, but it is not always necessary. If all your assets are already in a trust, it might be counter-productive to prepare this document. Still, it is a viable option if your unique circumstances make it applicable.
Before deciding to spend time and money on any estate planning tool, it can be beneficial to seek legal counsel first. Experienced insight can help you determine appropriate options without wasting resources on unnecessary arrangements.