Technical article
Why You Still Need a Will if the Trust Holds Everything
A living trust holds the assets that were moved into it.
Imagine a widower in Arizona with two children, one in Mexico and one in Spain. He has set up a living trust and moved his house and his brokerage account into it. He feels finished. Then he opens a new bank account and buys a small condo in Mexico, and neither one goes into the trust. What happens to those two?
What the trust leaves out
A living trust holds the assets that were moved into it. Anything not moved in stays outside. A New Mexico State University guide (tier B) says it plainly: a living trust does not cover assets that were not moved into it, so a pour-over will is still needed. A pour-over will is a will that sends whatever is left outside the trust into it at death.
The same guide lists what a will does that a trust may not. It costs less. It names guardians for children. It gives a legal process for claims and disputes among heirs. The trust has its own strengths: it avoids probate, keeps matters private, and avoids a court-run guardianship if you become unable to act. The guide also says a living trust may not save money if your assets already pass outside probate, through joint accounts or payable-on-death forms, or if a durable power of attorney can handle your affairs. A power of attorney is a document that lets a named person act for you.
So three jobs sit with papers other than the trust: assets left outside, guardians for minor children, and acting for you if you are unable to.
Where you own something abroad
The condo in Mexico brings its own paper. Mexico gives a will worldwide effect. A local will for Mexican assets has to refer to the main will and be homologated, which means formally recognised in Mexico. Chambers (tier B) says separate wills in each country are recommended. Mexico is not a party to the Hague Succession Convention, so recognition of a foreign will is case by case.
Spain goes the other way. The usual practice there is one universal will covering the whole estate, and Chambers says several wills can cause practical difficulties. So two countries in one family may ask for two different arrangements.
| Place | What the sources show |
|---|---|
| Mexico | A local will for local assets, referring to the main will |
| Spain | One universal will is usual; several wills can cause trouble |
| Thailand | Probate takes 3 to 6 months with a Thai will and 12 to 24 months or more with a foreign will alone |
| Canada, Australia, Singapore | A US court grant is not resealed, so the family files a new local case |
| US | An ancillary grant is needed in each state where assets sit |
The Thai figures come from a Thai legal information site (tier C). The statement about Canada, Australia and Singapore comes from our own research (tier B), and the Singapore rule is from one law firm (tier C). The note about each US state is from an Australian law-firm page (tier C).
Banks want local paper
Banks in several countries ask for a local document before they release money. Germany asks for an Erbschein, a certificate of heirs. The Netherlands asks for a notary statement. Spain asks each heir for a foreigner's identification number. Portugal has a 3-month deadline and Spain a 6-month deadline for tax. These points come from tier B sources.
You could
You could list every asset in one column and mark each one "in the trust" or "outside." You could then ask a lawyer in each country where something sits whether a local will is needed, and whether it has to refer to the main one. You could check the beneficiary forms on accounts and insurance too, since those pass outside both the trust and the will.
Who it touches
Children are the first. A named guardian speaks to young ones. Adult children abroad meet a local bank and a local court. A spouse or partner who handles the paperwork day to day meets the power of attorney.
What did your family find when the assets were listed? Share it here, because someone else may be about to find an account that was never retitled.
Figures are estimates for planning, based on public data. Date read: October 2026.
Sources
- New Mexico State University guide G256 on wills and living trusts (B)
- Chambers Succession and Estate Planning 2026 on Mexico and Spain (B)
- ThaiLawOnline on Thai wills and probate (C)
- project research on resealing and bank requirements (B)
- Queensland estate lawyers on foreign property and probate (C)
- PK Wala law on Singapore (C)
Tell us in the comments