Pour-Over Wills: Your Estate Plan’s Essential Safety Net in Washington State

Even the most carefully prepared estate plans can sometimes overlook certain assets. That’s why a pour-over will is an important component of your estate planning strategy. Specifically crafted to complement a Revocable Living Trust (RLT), a pour-over will ensures that any assets not previously placed into your trust are transferred to it after your death.

A pour-over will is essentially a regular will that names your revocable living trust as the sole beneficiary instead of directly naming individual beneficiaries. Upon your passing, it transfers any assets you haven’t specifically titled into your trust. However, this transfer isn’t automatic; the assets will first need to pass through probate unless they qualify for a simpler transfer process.

In Washington, pour-over wills serve several practical purposes:

Catching Forgotten Assets: Despite your best efforts to fund your trust, it’s possible to overlook retitling some assets or acquire new ones over time. A pour-over will ensures these remaining assets are still managed according to your overall estate intentions.

Unified Asset Management: After assets pass through probate and are transferred to your trust, they become governed by the terms of the trust, providing consistent management and distribution of your estate.

Simplified Estate Administration: While pour-over wills usually require probate, the process is often streamlined because most significant assets are already in the trust. Additionally, if the assets left outside the trust are minimal, such as a car or small accounts totaling less than $100,000, Washington law permits transferring these assets through a simple Small Estate Affidavit, bypassing formal probate entirely.

Consider David, who carefully established and funded his revocable living trust. Later, David bought a motorhome but overlooked retitling it into his trust. At the time of his passing, the motorhome was still registered in his individual name.

Fortunately, David’s pour-over will clearly directed that any individually held assets were to be transferred into his trust upon his death. The motorhome needed to go through probate because of its value, but the pour-over will ensured it eventually became part of the trust, adhering to David’s intended distribution plans.

Myth: A Pour-Over Will Always Avoids Probate. Generally, assets transferred through a pour-over will must pass through probate before reaching the trust. However, smaller assets might qualify for simplified processes that bypass formal probate.

Myth: A Pour-Over Will Fully Funds Your Trust. While relying solely on a pour-over will to fund your trust isn’t ideal, even an unfunded or partially funded trust provides certain benefits, such as organized distribution instructions and potential incapacity planning.

A pour-over will is typically created at the same time as your revocable living trust and serves as an integral part of your RLT strategy. It clearly names the trust as the beneficiary of assets not already placed into it.

A pour-over will provides valuable reassurance that your assets—whether overlooked or acquired later—will ultimately align with your estate wishes. When combined thoughtfully with a revocable living trust, a pour-over will helps ensure your estate is managed clearly and efficiently, providing peace of mind for you and your loved ones.