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Chapter 13. Common Questions.
How does the process work?
In order to make the transactions legal, you
actually have to go through and document the
plan in writing. It's going to be susceptible to
interpretation by third parties, so you want to
make sure that it's clear. There are formalities
with respect to the execution of the will as well
as the revocable living trust. You have to make
sure that you follow those formalities. We also
will do a power of attorney. We'll do health care
directives. We'll do HIPAA authorizations. We
also create a "pour-over will." The “pour-over
will” is a technique for retitling assets in the
name of the revocable living trust (to escape a
full probate) in the event you forget to re-title
the assets in the name of the revocable living
trust while you are alive. It really is used just
in case you forget. Sometimes people don't get
assets put in the name of the revocable living
trust on purpose or they forget to re-title the
assets.
A pour-over will takes those assets into probate
court and asks the judge to simply pour them
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