For many of our clients, pets are the equivalent of children and they wish to make provisions for them. Nevertheless, pets are personal possessions, just like your furniture or your jewelry. We don’t like to look at our pets that way, but it’s a fact of life. There are a number of approaches as to how to ensure continuing care for your pets after your death or incapacity.
The first and most elaborate approach is to include a pet trust in your will or trust. A pet trust provides funds to be held in a trust for your pet. You may state who will care for the pet, what type of care is desired, and how much money you wish to utilize to fund the trust. The caregiver may be the trustee, or you may appoint a third-party trustee to oversee the money. This may act as a check and balance, with a non-caregiver making the financial decisions. Any money left in the pet trust after the pet’s death is distributed to the beneficiaries according to the will, or trust or may be distributed to charitable institutions such as animal care foundations.
The second approach is to simply designate a caretaker of the pet and a specific amount of money that is to be distributed to the caretaker to help offset the costs of care.
The third approach would be to designate in your estate plan the recipient of your pet, without a designation of funds for care.
Finally, you may also plan for pet care in the event of your incapacity. For example, in your general durable power of attorney, which appoints an agent to take care of property and assets, you can designate a caretaker for your pet during your incapacity. This allows the caretaker with authority over the pet, including authorization for medical care. If you regain capacity, then you would recover possession of your pet.
If you have pets, you should consider any of these approaches to care for your pets after you are gone.
Louis A. Silverman, a board-certified specialist in estate, trust and probate law, is the founder of Silverman Law Offices in Tempe. He can be reached at 480-491-3216 or visit the firm’s website at www.silvermanlawpc.com.
