Before proceeding, please review the legal disclaimer.
If you’ve set up a revocable living trust, you might think you’re completely done with probate. Not quite—unless you also have a pour-over will.
But what is it? And more importantly, does it help you avoid probate in Texas?
The answer is a little nuanced. A pour-over will doesn’t avoid probate by itself—but it works as a safety net to help ensure everything ends up in the right place.
Let’s unpack how it works, when you need one, and what you should watch out for.
A pour-over will is a simple will that directs any assets left out of your living trust at the time of death to be “poured over” into that trust.
In other words:
It catches any forgotten assets not titled in the trust
Then it sends them into your trust after you pass
It ties your will and trust together as a unified plan
Not exactly. A pour-over will still has to go through probate.
That’s because:
The assets weren’t titled in the trust when you died
Texas probate law requires a court to transfer them into the trust
So if the only document covering those items is a pour-over will, the estate must still be probated—but only for the leftover pieces.
The pour-over will acts like a legal backup plan.
Let’s say you forgot to:
Retitle a car into the trust
Add a new bank account to the trust
Include an inheritance or bonus asset
Without a pour-over will, those assets might go to heirs under Texas intestacy laws—not according to your wishes.
With a pour-over will, they end up where you intended: inside your trust, distributed according to your trust instructions.
The best way to avoid probate is to make sure all your major assets are:
Titled in the name of your trust
Assigned with transfer-on-death (TOD) or payable-on-death (POD) designations
This minimizes the number of assets that “fall through the cracks.”
Even if you think you’ve transferred everything, life happens:
You inherit new property
You buy a new vehicle or home
You forget to update beneficiary designations
The pour-over will covers your bases so nothing gets lost.
A good estate planning lawyer will:
Draft both the trust and pour-over will
Help you retitle assets correctly
Review your plan regularly
Sam had a revocable trust and thought everything was handled. But after he died, his family discovered a bank account in his sole name with $40,000.
Thanks to the pour-over will, that account was pulled into the trust through a simple probate process and distributed as he intended.
Without that will, the funds might have gone to heirs under default state rules—not what Sam wanted.
No, it doesn’t change your estate tax situation.
If your estate is under the federal exemption (over $13 million in 2025), you’re likely in the clear anyway
The pour-over will simply moves assets, not reduce value or create deductions
It’s more about control and convenience than tax savings.
At The Lange Firm, we:
Draft custom revocable trusts and pour-over wills
Help Texans retitle their assets to avoid probate
Guide blended families and special needs planning
Review and update plans when life changes
We make sure your entire estate plan works together—so no piece is left out.
A pour-over will won’t eliminate probate—but it will make sure nothing important slips through the cracks.
When paired with a properly funded trust, it forms a complete plan to protect your assets and honor your wishes.
Contact The Lange Firm to create a comprehensive estate plan that gives your family peace of mind.
Follow our newsletter to stay updated.
2025- The Lange Firm all rights reserved.
Mr. Evan B. Lange is the attorney responsible for this website. | All meetings are by appointment only. | Principal place of business: Sugar Land, Texas.
The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for advice regarding your individual situation. We invite you to contact us and welcome you to submit your claim for review. Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please do not send any confidential information to us until such time as an attorney-client relationship has been established.