Amendment to trust plus pour over will

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oregon

In amending a trust to delete a beneficary: Do we also need to amend the pourover will to delete the same beneficary or does the trust override the will?

The will will be enforced. The trust will only get what the will doesn't already bequeth.

hi salt,

the 2 documents control different assets. the trust controls all assets that have been specifically titled to it. so if an asset is titled to the trust, then the distribution of that asset is based upon just the beneficiaries of the trust.

a will distributes those assets that are considered part of his "estate". note that "estate" is defined differently by the state and the feds.

but for your question, a person's estate is all assets owned by that person that do not belong to something else of his, like his trust, his llc, his pension, etc. basically those things that are owned by him as an individual. and even individually-owned assets can have beneficiaries attached to them, such as pod banking instruments. and as anteater informed us - a dozen states now allow beneficiaries on real estate.

Amendement to trust

It is my understanding that if we use POD's on all assets and have joint accounts on all other assets ( we own no home) that that would override a trust and a pour over will. Is that correct?

the term "override" creates a bad understanding.

it is more appropriate to understand what controls what.

the trust controls assets titled to the trust.

if an asset is titled as joint tenants, then joint tenancy applies.

if there is a beneficiary attached to the asset, then that beneficiary applies.

if there is nothing at all, then those documents are considered part of his estate, in which his will presides.

you should not have an asset in your trust with a pod on it. at best, it creates confusion. at worse, it creates problems.

just remember - without a trust, you have left no instructions on how to manage these assets when you are alive, but no longer capable of doing so, yourself.

a trust is more than just a device to distribute your assets upon death.