How do Living Trusts and Pour-Over Wills work together?
A Living Trust is an alternative to using a Will. You create the Living Trust during your lifetime and transfer all or some of your assets into the trust. At the time of your death, these assets are distributed according to provisions in the trust that are very similar to Will provisions. A successor trustee carries out the terms of your trust in a manner similar to the role of an executor. A “Pour-Over” Will is a companion document to the Living Trust, and may be important and necessary even though you plan to use your Living Trust as the document for distributing your assets at your death. A Pour-Over Will simply provides that any assets remaining in your individual name at the time of your death should be “poured over” into your Living Trust so that the assets can be distributed according to the terms of your Living Trust. If you have minor children, you will likely want to use a Pour-Over Will to nominate a guardian for your children. Including your guardian choice in a Pour-Over W
