Informative Masterclass
How to Protect your Family’s Assets and Leave a Lasting Legacy
Save Your Spot Now!

White Plains & New City, New York Estate Planning & Elder Law Firm

Should I have a Pour-Over Will ?

May 18, 2022
David Parker, Esq.
Can a BDIT save you on taxes?
David Parker, White Plains and New City NY Estate Planning Attorney
David Parker, Esq.
David Parker is an attorney who specializes in Estate Planning and Elder Law and has been practicing law for 30 years. Be it Wills, Trusts, Powers of Attorney, Health Care Proxies, or Medicaid Planning, David provides comprehensive and caring counsel for seniors and their families. A large portion of David’s practice is asset protection strategies so that families do not lose their hard earned savings to nursing home care costs. He also handles probate administration for the settlement of estates.
What is a pour-over will?

A pour-over will is a type of will that’s created in conjunction with a trust. It can help facilitate the transfer of assets, if a trust’s grantor (the person establishing the trust) has failed to transfer all intended assets into the trust. A pour-over will can be an important part of a person’s estate planning checklist. Bankrate’s recent article entitled “Do you need a pour-over will in your estate plan?” gives us more information.

This type of will has a provision that directs the will to “pour-over” any residual assets left in the person’s estate into a living trust that is overseen by a trustee upon the grantor’s death.

A big benefit of this type of arrangement is that it’s a backstop, in case there were assets the grantor didn’t specifically fund into the trust before their death. This allows these assets to avoid the intestate rules (when someone passes away without a valid will), even though they were not specifically part of the living trust.

A person might designate certain assets to be titled in the name of a living trust they’ve established to facilitate passing these assets to the trust’s designated beneficiaries upon the grantor’s death. The trust avoids probate on these assets. However, any assets, such as an IRA or a life insurance policy, that passes on to heirs via a beneficiary designation wouldn’t be eligible for inclusion in this type of trust.

A pour-over will allows the grantor to state that any assets that had not previously been included in the trust should be added to the trust upon their death. Therefore, assets that may have been acquired after the trust was established are eligible for the same treatment as the assets that had already been funded to the trust.

It’s also simple and eliminates the need to decide which heir receives certain assets because everything eventually becomes part of the trust. These assets are, therefore, distributed via the terms of the trust.

It also helps avoid a lengthy probate case due to a significant asset that wasn’t included in the trust or elsewhere.

However, this type of will doesn’t eliminate the probate process. The will still needs to go through probate. There may also be possible legal challenges, which can be costly to litigate and take time to resolve.

Ask an estate planning attorney about a pour-over will as a part of your estate plan.

Reference: Bankrate (April 20, 2022) “Do you need a pour-over will in your estate plan?”

Suggested Key Terms: Estate Planning Lawyer, Pour-Over Will, Intestacy, Probate Court, Inheritance, Will Contest, Trusts, Probate Attorney

Share This Post
Stay Informed
Subscribe To Our FREE Estate Planning, Probate and Elder Law Newsletter

Book Your Free Initial Consultation With Parker Law Firm Today
Get Started Now

The 15 minute initial phone call is designed as a simple way for you to get to know us, and for our team to learn more about your unique estate planning needs.

Book an Initial Call
Book A Call With Parker Law Firm
Parker Law Firm
White Plains Location

222 Bloomingdale Rd #301,
White Plains, NY 10605

New City Location

120 North Main Street, Suite 203,
New City, NY 10956

IMS - Estate Planning and Elder Law Practice Growth Advisors
Powered by
crosscross-circle