What it means
This is the statute that makes a pour-over will work. A will may devise property to the trustee of a trust the testator set up during life, as long as the trust is identified in the will and evidenced by a written instrument in existence when the will was signed (or signed at the same time).
The devise is valid even though the trust is revocable or amendable, and even if it was amended after the will — the property passes under the trust's terms as they stand at death, and joins the trust principal rather than forming a separate testamentary trust. Completely revoking the trust before death kills the devise.
- A will may devise assets to the trustee of a living trust identified in the will.
- The trust must be in a writing existing when the will is signed, or signed concurrently with it.
- Valid even though the trust is revocable or amendable — or was amended after the will.
- Assets pass under the trust's terms as amended, and join the trust principal.
- Revoking the entire trust before death invalidates the pour-over devise.
How it plays out
Almost every trust-based plan we build in Florida relies on §732.513. The trust holds the plan; a short pour-over will sweeps anything that didn't get retitled into the trust at death. The rule that matters most in practice is the last one: if a client revokes the trust and never updates the will, the pour-over has nowhere to go and those assets fall into intestacy. When we unwind or replace a trust, the will gets looked at in the same sitting — never after.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 732.513 does real work:
Questions people ask
