At the Law Office of Stephen W. Penn in California, we help people such as you plan for your and your family’s future. We know how proud you are of the assets you have accumulated through hard work over the years, and we understand that you likely have definite ideas about how you want those assets used for your own benefit and that of your loved ones.
While you may already have a will and you may already have a living trust, have you made sure that these two very important legal documents work together seamlessly to ensure that your executor and your trustee can carry out your wishes exactly as you desire after you die?
You may not be aware of the fact that your living trust contains only those assets that you owned and chose to place in it at the time you signed it. Any asset(s) you subsequently acquired are not part of your trust, which is one of its very few disadvantages. As FindLaw explains, however, executing a new pour-over will solves that problem simply and easily.
Benefits of a pour-over will
As its name implies, your pour-over will directs your executor to place any assets you own when you die into your trust if you did not place them there yourself during your lifetime. Consequently, you receive the following benefits:
- You no longer need to constantly update your trust so as to include newly-acquired assets.
- You have a one-time catchall document, i.e., your pour-over will, that accomplishes your goal.
- You have peace of mind knowing that your estate plan works, and will continue to work, the way you want it to.
Full compatibility
Your pour-over will and your living trust must be completely compatible with each other. For instance, each document should mention the other, and neither document should contain language that conflicts with language in the other. For more information on this subject, please visit this page of our website.
