USING A POUR OVER WILL IN YOUR ESTATE PLAN

​In almost every estate plan, a Trust is used to distribute a person’s assets according to their wishes upon their death. However, without the proper additional tools and planning in place, probate may still be unavoidable. Probate can be expensive, time consuming, and emotionally tolling. As such, it is important to properly plan what happens to your estate upon your death. In California, if a person’s assets outside of a Trust exceed $166,250, the estate will still need to be administered through the probate process. (Prob. Code, § 13100). This is where a Pour Over Will becomes an important part of one’s estate plan. A Pour Over Will is a tool that essentially gifts to the already existing Trust, all assets outside the Trust upon that person’s death (i.e. the assets “pour over” into the Trust). This extra step in a person’s estate plan allows the estate to avoid probate, even if the assets existing outside the Trust exceed California’s $166,250 limit. For more information on Pour Over Wills and implementing them into your estate plan or estate planning questions in general, call the Law Office of Caitlin Rodriguez to set up your free initial consult.