For many of my clients, planning for the care and comfort of their pets is one of their most important concerns.

Without a plan, there may be no one to immediately care for your pets at your death. The pets may run away; they may be taken to shelters and put up for adoption or euthanized. If you do not designate a person to care for your pets at your death, then your personal representative or trustee will decide what should happen to them. However, since there would not be any funds designated for their care, the personal representative or trustee options may be limited.

Since your pets are legally considered your personal property, you can plan for their well-being after your death.

Bequest in Your Will or Trust

You can include a clause in your will or trust that designates a particular person to receive your pets.

Some people include with the gift of pets a financial gift so the person receiving the pets will have funds to care for them. Other people are less specific with their plan. They allow the trustee to select who should care for their pets and they include a financial gift to the person who receives them.

The funds can be a fixed amount or a percentage of your estate. You should also name an alternate recipient in case the person that you have designated is unable or unwilling to care for your pets.

Incapacity

If you have a revocable trust, you can also provide for your pets if you are still living but incapacitated and the pets are no longer able to reside with you.

If you are moved to a nursing home or memory care facility that does not allow you to have pets, you can determine in advance what should happen to your pets. You can request that they be place temporarily with a trusted friend or permanently with another person if it is certain that your condition will not improve.

Pet Trust

Some of my clients set up a pet trust within their revocable trust in which funds are designated to provide for your pet’s care during its life and then the funds are distributed to designated beneficiaries at the pet’s death.

A trustee is named to manage the funds and ensure that your pets are receiving appropriate care. You can also designate a caretaker, or pet guardian, for the pets or allow your trustee to do so. The caretaker will care for your pets. Some pet trusts give the trustee the authority to visit the pet’s home, ensure that the pets are receiving regular veterinary treatment, and allow the trustee to remove the pets from the caretaker if the custodian is providing the pets with appropriate care. Additionally, the trust specifies how the funds for the pets are to be spent including end of life treatment. The trust can cover one or more than one pet.

Often they are for the person’s cats or dogs but they can be for any pets such as horses or a tortoise. You can request that certain pets remain together. Some people allow the caretaker to live in their residence during the pet’s lifetimes.

Pets Received after Estate Plan is Completed

You can also include pets that you may not own at the time you prepare your estate planning documents by stating, “I give all my pets to my friend Sally at my death.”

You could include a gift with that such as, “I give Sally $5,000 as a gift for caring for my pets.”

Informal Agreement

If you do not include your pets in your estate plan, at a minimum you should have an informal agreement with friends or family members regarding what should happen to them at your death.

Sometimes, there can be problems if this information is not formally designated because your trustee or personal representative may have a different idea about what should happen to the pets than other family members or friends. It also does not provide any funds to the person caring for your pets which may be problematic if they do not have sufficient funds of their own to care for them.

Your pets are a significant part of your life. When you set up or update your personal estate plan, include provisions for the care of your pets in a will, trust or pet trust.