In the past few months our firm has been preparing an abundance of Revocable Living Trusts for Louisiana residents seeking to avoid probate or succession as it is called in Louisiana. One of the essential parts of a Louisiana Revocable Living trusts is what’s known as a pour-over will. Often clients are confused by this term, because their thinking is; "If I have a revocable living trust, I shouldn’t need a will". Well, I’m here to explain exactly what the pour-over will is used for. When you have a revocable living trust, your Louisiana pour-over will is a essentially the back-up plan for property that is not a part of your trust when you die. First, The pour-over will governs the distribution of your assets that will not need to pass through a Louisiana succession or probate procedure. These assets include your vehicles and personal effects. The pour-over will is in place to dictate what will happen to such assets. The other assets that the pour-over will covers are assets which should have been placed in your living trust, but for some reason or another, have not made it into the trust. The pour-over will is there just in case there are some assets that still need to go thorough probate. The pour-over will typically leaves these assets to your living trust to be distributed according to the terms of the trust. However, the hope, in setting up a Louisiana revocable living trust, is that your estate will never need to pass through a Louisiana Succession. If you are interested in setting up a revocable living trust in New Orleans, Mandeville, Slidell, Covington, Metairie, Kenner, or elsewhere throughout Louisiana give me a call at (504) 274-1980 or (985) 246-3020.