What can you do to ensure your pet is provided for after you are gone?

As much as we love our pets, they cannot legally inherit property. Under the law, pets are personal property, not persons. A bequest to your pet is invalid. Since you can’t make your pet a beneficiary of your will or trust, what can you do to ensure your pet is provided for after you are gone? There are several options.

First, you can create an informal agreement with someone to care for your pet after you are deceased or can no longer care for the animal and you can simply give the guardian the funds to do so. However, informal agreements cannot be enforced and you will have no way to control how the pet guardian spends the money you give him or her to care for your pet.

Second, you can provide for your pet’s care in your will. To do this, you must include a clause in
your will that designates who will care for your pet, and leave an appropriate amount of money
to that person to provide for the care. However, as with the informal arrangement, the caretaker could spend the money for other purposes. Importantly, a will cannot provide for your incapacity, so alternative arrangements will need to be made should you experience a prolonged hospital stay or become otherwise incapacitated.

Third, you can set up a pet trust. A pet trust addresses periods of incapacity, as well as the death of a pet owner. Through a pet trust, the pet owner can designate exactly how funds should be spent. Moreover, the pet guardian will have a legal responsibility to care for the pet and follow the instructions in the trust.

Whichever choice you make, be sure to talk to the person you want to care for your pet to make sure he or she is willing to assume the responsibility. If you cannot find anyone who is willing and able to care for your pet, try contacting animal rescue organizations or the SPCA to find an adoption program that can place your pet in a new home.

For more information on pet trusts please contact Stokes Law Firm.

Pet trusts,