David Morris

 

Now that we’ve talked about trusts and what trusts do let’s talk about some of the other documents we typically draft we put together an estate plan. The first is what we call a pour-over will. Now we just talked about how wills are basically a letter of instructions to the probate court. However, we always draft a to will anytime we draft a trust for a couple of reasons.

The first is that the will serves as a backup to the trust. Let’s imagine that you set up trusts you put your house into it. so that’s great! No problem, that’s going to avoid probate. Then let’s say that you lived there for a few years then you decide to move. You sell that house and it goes out of the trust. When you buy a new house and at the closing they put it into your names as joint tenants. Now joint tenancy is great and it helps to avoid probate in the event of a single death, but at the second
death of course you’ve got a probate problem.

If the house is just titled in your names and it’s not titled the name of the trust, now you have a problem. The job of the pour-over will is to serve as it post-death trust funding
tool. So if for whatever reason you buy a new piece of property forget to put it
into the trust, the pour-over will is the document we can use to go to the probate
court and say, “Dear probate court: If I have any assets outside of my trust, I
want you to take those assets and pour them over into the trust. That’s where
the term comes from.

The second thing that will is important for for some of our clients is that a will is the place where you designate guardians for minor children. Of course you know if your kids are all grown that’s great but, if you still have young children for most of our clients of course that’s the most important thing you need to be worrying about. So we always draft pour-over wills for both spouses if we have a married couple and of course if we just have a single person to pour over will is also a very important thing to have. We always do those anytime we drafted trust or any kind of estate plan for our clients.

Summary
Estate Planning: Pour Over Wills
Title
Estate Planning: Pour Over Wills
Description

Now that we've talked about trusts and what trusts do let's talk about some of the other documents we typically draft we put together an estate plan. The first is what we call a pour-over will. Now we just talked about how wills are basically a letter of instructions to the probate court.

 

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(916)789-9810
drmorris@morrislawgrp.com

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About Morris Law Group

Attorney David R. Morris is a Certified Specialist in Estates, Trusts, and Probate, certified by the State Bar of California. Certified Specialists undergo rigorous peer review, testing, and education to certify that they are experts in their subject matter areas. Fewer than two percent of attorneys in California become Certified Specialists in any area of law—the designation serves as an indication that the attorney is skilled, experienced, and knowledgeable in the specialty area.

With offices in Sacramento and El Dorado Hills, Morris Law Group provides innovative, cost effective solutions for clients seeking to resolve and avoid problems related to their families and livelihoods. We serve individuals and business clients in the communities of El Dorado Hills, Sacramento, West Sacramento, South Sacramento, Midtown Sacramento, Natomas, Folsom, Granite Bay, Rancho Cordova, Citrus Heights, Carmichael, Roseville, Cameron Park, Shingle Springs and Placerville.

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