Fill Out Legal Massachusetts Pour Over Will Forms For Free

A revocable living trust can be used to avoid probate. A trust holds legal title to property for the benefit of another person (?beneficiary?). The person who creates the trust (?the grantor?) chooses a manager (sometimes themselves), known as the trustee, to manage the assets in order to protect them.

Steps for Creating a Will in Massachusetts Technically, you can create your own will in Massachusetts. The only legal requirement is that you sign it in front of at least 2 witnesses and that those witnesses also sign the will.

The main downside to pour-over wills is that (like all wills), the property that passes through them must go through probate. That means that any property headed toward a living trust may get hung up in probate before it can be distributed by the trust.

Alternatives To Probate Non-probate property vs. probate property. Revocable Living Trusts. Joint tenancy with right of survivorship. Paid on death accounts and transfer on death accounts. Life insurance beneficiary designations. Retirement account beneficiary designations.

Handwritten Will: A handwritten will is valid in Massachusetts as long as the testator signs and their signature is witnessed by two witnesses. Some states permit the use of a holographic will, a will in the testator's handwriting that they sign without any witnesses.

Because trusts avoid probate, many believe a pour-over will also not enter probate. However, a pour-over will is still a type of will and must go through probate before your personal representative (the person who follows the instructions in your will) can add the assets to your trust.