What is a pour over will?

If your estate plan is based around a living trust, you are probably familiar with the benefits that this type of trust provides over a standard will, including avoiding probate, reducing attorney’s fees, and providing privacy for you and your loved ones. 

Ideally, you should transfer all your accounts and property into the living trust during your lifetime. When assets are transferred into a your trust, the ownership of the assets is transferred from you as an individual to you as the trustee. Since a living trust is revocable (meaning cancelable) , California law allows you to be the grantor, the trustee, and a beneficiary. You may also also name the trust as the beneficiary of your life insurance, retirement accounts, and other assets. 

Once it is estatblished,  yourtrust is a legal entity separate from both your estate and you as an individual. 

Most people name themselves as the trustee and beneficiary of their living trust since it allows them to use and enjoy the accounts and property during their lifetime, even though the legal ownership now resides with the trust.

 But if you do not transfer those accounts and property into the trust, they remain owned by you as an individual, that property will be classified as a part of your estate and could be subjet to the probate process.  Proprety in your estate is distributed according to the terms of your will. If have not created a willl, your property will be distributed according to state law. Which may result in a significantly different from distribution to the plans you laid forth in your living trust.

A California pour-over will can prevent this from happening. The pour-over will names your living trust as the beneficiary and leaves all of your property to your living trust.  This allows any money or property you own individually to be transferred or “poured over” into your living trust upon your death whatever it may be. A pour over will, When used together with a living trust,  acts as a safety net to capture any property that you forgotmor did not have time, to place in the name of your trust.

How Does a Pour-Over Will Work?

A pour over will is just a regular will that leaves all of your property to the your living trust. What follows is a more detailed breakdown of the mechanics.

There are four parties involved in a pour-over will and the related trust:

1. The testator: the person who creates the will.
2. The beneficiary(ies): the person or entity who receives the property owned solely by the testator at their death.
3. The executor or personal representative: the person who carries out the testator’s wishes as stated in their will.
4.  The trustee: the person who controls trust accounts and property.

You, the testator, name a beneficiary when you create a pour-over will and that beneficairy would be the trustee of your living trust or the trust itself.  The trustee of your living trust may serve all three roles as beneficiary under your will, the trustee of your trust, and the executor of your will.

However, suppose you want the beneficiary and the trustee to be the same person. In that case, your pour-over should be drafted with care and caution. This can lead to unintended consequences if the will is drafted incorrectly. You should contact a qualified California trust and estate attorney can help you avoid future legal issues.

You will also name an executor of your pour-over will. The executor is legally responsible for ensuring that property ends up being owned by the trust according to the instructions in the will.

Your will directs the executor, who may also be the trustee, to legally transfer your accounts and property into the trust at your death. The trustee, who may also be the executor, then controls the distribution of the property from the trust.

You can choose  one person be both the executor and the trustee. Or you can name separate people, so one person does not control the entire asset transfer process.

Can You Avoid California Probate with a Pour-Over?

Probate is the court-supervised proceeding that oversees the transfer of your accounts and property to beneficiaries.

In California, only accounts and property owned solely in your name at your death are subject to probate. Any and all property owned by your trust is not in your name and therefore is not subject to probate. Your Pour-Over Will directs your property outside your trust to be transferred into your trust at your death.

But, at the time of your death, that “left-over” property is not in the trust and may be subject to probate. If its total value exceeds the Calfornia Probate threshold. Which as of 2025 is $200,000.00

However, if you have transferred most of your assets to your trust. Your “left-over” property outside the trust may fall below the California probate threshold and not be subject to California probate at all.

While the threshold amount changes, if your estate is worth $200,000 or less in 2025, you would avoid a California probate. But, if your estate is worth more than that amount, your estate will most likely go through probate.  

One of the primary reasons to meet regularly with your California estate and trust attorney is to keep your estate below the California probate threshold.

Your Next Best Steps

Strategically using trusts and a pour-over will is a powerful estate planning tool. Used correctly, you can avoid probate and ensure your assets are distributed in the future according to your wishes.

Let us show you how to use trusts and a pour-over will to protect your family and your legacy. Although California trusts and estate law may be complicated, this is the core of our practice. The Bassin Law frim is a group of qualified estate planning lawyers in San Francisco, California. We are familiar with all federal and California estate and trust laws. We know how help you achieve your estate planning goals and especially how to use trusts and wills to ensure your legacy.