Florida Pour-Over Will: What It Does and Who Needs One

Last updated September 18, 2026

What a pour-over will does (§732.513)

A will may devise property to the trustee of a trust the testator created during life, and the property is then administered under the trust’s terms — even terms amended after the will was signed. That is the pour-over. The residuary clause names your revocable trust as the beneficiary of everything that did not make it into the trust during life: the account you opened last year, the car, the refund check, the inheritance that arrived after your plan was signed.

Why a trust needs one

A trust controls only what it owns. Assets left outside it pass by intestacy or by an old will unless a pour-over will catches them — and the plan you built into the trust is bypassed for exactly those assets. The pour-over will is also one of the two Florida instruments that can nominate guardians for minor children — the other is a preneed guardian declaration (§744.3046) — something a trust cannot do.

The pour-over does not avoid probate for the assets it catches: they still go through probate on their way into the trust. Funding the trust during life is what avoids probate; the pour-over will is the backstop for what funding missed.

The fallback our master adds

If the trust cannot receive the gift — revoked without replacement, or never validly created — a bare pour-over fails and the estate passes by intestacy. Our master carries the testamentary-trust fallback: the will incorporates the trust’s terms by reference and creates a testamentary trust on the same terms, so the plan survives even if the receptacle does not.

Signing

A pour-over will is a last will and is signed like one: at the end, before two attesting witnesses who sign in the presence of the testator and of each other (§732.502), with the optional self-proving affidavit before a notary (§732.503). The trust must exist when the will is signed; ours asks for the trust’s name and date and injects them.

The pour-over will we prepare

The dedicated Florida pour-over instrument composed from the full will master — the §732.513 devise to your named trust, the testamentary-trust fallback by incorporation by reference, the limited-agent distribution language, guardians for minors, the personal representative, the homestead acknowledgment, and the self-proving affidavit.
Florida signing instructions.
Your answers fill the blanks; the master text never changes.
Offered in the complete Lady Bird Deed package. Inside the Trust-Based Plan, the will carries the same pour-over devise when you elect it.

$99 as a single document. The Trust-Based Plan (from $499) prepares a will that carries the same pour-over devise when you elect it.

Start a Florida pour-over will

Software, not a law firm. The document is prepared from your answers on a locked Florida master; it is not reviewed by anyone, and a licensed Florida attorney of your choosing can review it before you sign.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a pour-over will if my trust is fully funded?

Yes. Something is always left out — the last paycheck, a refund, an inheritance, an account opened after the plan. The pour-over will is what routes it into the trust.

Does a pour-over will avoid probate?

No. Assets it catches pass through probate on the way to the trust. Funding the trust during life is what avoids probate.

What if my trust is revoked later?

A bare pour-over gift fails. Our master's testamentary-trust fallback incorporates the trust's terms so the plan survives.

Can a pour-over will name guardians for my children?

Yes. A will is one of the two Florida instruments that can nominate a guardian for a minor child; the other is a preneed guardian declaration under §744.3046. A trust cannot name guardians.

General information about Florida law, not legal advice.

The Florida Pour-Over Will