Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in California

Re: livivg trust

A pourover will is necessary part of a living trust centered estate plan. A typical living trust plan will control the disposition of property in the trust - but the pourover will is needed to nominate guardians for minor children (if any), and to control property that isn't titled as trust property.

(For example, let's say that a person, "Joe", inherits property on January 1. However, the estate doesn't distribute the property until June 1. Joe dies on May 1. Joe couldn't put the inherited property into his trust because he didn't own it yet - but his pourover will will make sure that it goes into the living trust, rather than being distributed according to the laws of intestate succession.)

The same result would occur if Joe had forgotten to move some property into his trust (perhaps a new bank account was opened, but not titled in the name of the trust).