Sections Contest Property disposition Common types Other types Governing doctrines A pour-over will is a testamentary device wherein the writer of a will creates a trust, and decrees in the will that the property in his or her estate at the time of his or her death shall be distributed to the Trustee of the trust.
More recently, a number of jurisdictions have recognized the validity of a pour-over will.
[2] In the jurisdictions in the U.S. which allow a pour-over will, testators do not usually put all of their assets into trusts for the reasons of liquidity, convenience, or simply because they did not get around to doing so before they died.
A pour-over clause in a will gives probate property to a trustee of the testator's separate trust and must be validated either under incorporation by reference by identifying the previously existing trust which the property will be poured into, or under the doctrine of acts of independent significance by referring to some act that has significance apart from disposing of probate assets, namely, the revocable living trust (inter vivos trust).
The testator's property is subject to probate until such time as the pour-over clause is applied, and the estate assets "pour" into the trust.