A Living Trust avoids probate because the property is owned by the Trust and not by the individual. So Trust property is not a part of any person\’s estate when that person dies.
But to avoid probate, the property must be placed into the Trust BEFORE the original property owner dies. And if the transfer of that property doesn\’t happen until the person’s death, the property MUST pass through the probate process. (This “upon death transfer process” is done through the pour-over will, which sweeps into the Living Trust any property not previously transferred to the Trust.)
As such, it is important to fund the Trust while the grantors of the Trust are still alive — and the purpose of the pour over will is to ‘clean up’ any assets that may have not been so transferred during the life of the grantor.
And to be clear, yes, the assets transferred by the pour-over will go through probate.
Complete details on the use and content of Standard Legal’s Living Trust legal forms software is here.