Pour-Over Will Provision.

A pour-over Will is a companion or a back-up to a Living Trust.  If you have property outside of your Living Trust when you die and it should be in your Living Trust, the pour-over Will will transfer this property into your Living Trust.

If a pour-over Will must be used, a probate estate must be opened so that the title of the assets can transfer into the Living Trust. A pour-over Will cannot be used without a probate proceeding.

A pour-over Will will be used if the property outside of your trust exceeds $100,000 in value in the aggregate. Say you have a small credit union savings account worth $5,000 -- a small estate affidavit procedure can be used to transfer this account in lieu of probate. But if this savings account along with other assets exceed $100,000, probate must be opened to transfer title of all of these assets.

How to tell if your Will is a pour-over, read the sample provision below where the Will gifts the entire estate to the Living Trust.  [Note that this Will does not give the property outright to whoever is the trustee of the trust. It gives it to the trustee of the trust to distribute in accordance with the trust provisions.]

2.1. Gift of Entire Estate

    I give all of my property to the trustee of the JOHN SMITH REVOCABLE TRUST dated July 1, 2006, created under the declaration of trust executed on the same date as, but immediately before, the execution of this will, by JOHN SMITH as settlor and trustee. The trustee of that trust shall add the property disposed of under this will to the trust principal and hold, administer, and distribute the property in accordance with the provisions of that declaration of trust, including any amendments of that declaration of trust that have been made before or after execution of this will.