A pour-over will does not replace your living trust. It backs it up — catching anything left outside it — and it does the one thing your trust can’t: name who raises your children if you’re not here to. One document. Your family’s decision, not a courtroom’s.
One published price. You know the number before we touch a single document
Every document drafted by a paralegal and reviewed by licensed legal counsel.
Wyoming to California. Every layer coordinated and built to hold when it matters.
You pay once. No retainer. No meter running. No invoice you didn't see coming.
No sales pitch. Just the structure, built correctly
Q ) Do I need this if I already have a living trust?
Yes. A trust only controls what’s actually retitled into it. The pour-over will catches everything else, and it’s the only document that can legally nominate a guardian for your children — a trust can’t do that.
Q ) What happens if I don’t name a guardian?
A family court decides, usually among relatives who petition for custody. If more than one person wants the role, or no one steps forward, the outcome is out of your hands and often slower and more contested than parents expect.
Q ) Can I name different guardians for different children?
Yes, though most parents name the same guardian for all their children to keep siblings together. We can structure it either way depending on your family’s situation.
A pour-over will has two jobs. First, it catches any asset you forgot to retitle into your living trust — a bank account opened after the trust was signed, a check that arrives after you’re gone — and directs it into the trust through probate, so it’s still distributed under your trust’s terms instead of your state’s default inheritance laws. Second, and more urgent for parents, it legally nominates who raises your minor children if both parents are gone. Without that nomination in writing, a family court decides — and it’s frequently a contested process between relatives who disagree, with your children in the middle of it while a judge who has never met them makes the call.
Courts give real weight to a written, properly executed guardian nomination — but it has to meet your state’s formal signing requirements to hold up, the same as any will. An unsigned note, a text message, or a conversation at Thanksgiving carries no legal authority when a judge is deciding where your children go. We draft the pour-over will with your nominated guardian named clearly, prepare a backup nomination in case your first choice can’t serve, and make sure the document is executed correctly so it holds up exactly when your family needs it to.
If you have minor children and haven’t legally named who raises them if you’re gone, or if you have a living trust but nothing catching what falls outside it, you have a real gap — one that’s inexpensive and fast to close. This document isn’t reserved for complex estates. It’s the one piece almost every parent skips.
The Pour-Over Will & Guardianship package includes the complete will document and the guardian nomination structure, properly executed to hold up when it matters.
Everything above is prepared by an assigned paralegal and reviewed by licensed legal counsel before it reaches you. One flat fee. No retainer. No hourly billing. No invoice you did not see coming.