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Pet Trusts PET TRUSTS

Pet Trusts

– The Shocking Truth: Over a Half a Million Pets are Euthanized Every Year
– Don't Let That Happen to Your Beloved Companion
– A pet trust ensures continuity of care.
– Put the elements of a pet trust in place now!

Protecting & Caring with a Pet Trust

Have you seriously considered what will become of your faithful companion – your beloved pet – upon your death or disability? If not, now is the time. If you don't have a plan that quickly and easily provides for your pet's food, shelter, and care, please keep reading.

One of the main goals of estate planning is to provide for your loved ones, and for many of us, "loved ones" includes our pets. While you can always ask a friend or relative to look out for your pet, they aren't legally obligated to unless you set up an estate plan for this. The specific estate planning method you use will depend on your state laws, your pet's needs, your goals and financial resources. Working together, you and your attorney can plan for the best method to ensure that your pet will continue to have a quality life.

You can choose for a pet trust to take effect upon your death or any disability that prevents you from caring properly for your pet. As the "grantor" of the trust, you fund the trust with enough property or cash to care for your pet for his or her expected lifetime. The "trustee" can make payments on a regular basis to your pet's caregiver, and pay for your pet's miscellaneous expenses as they come up.

Drafting A Successful Pet Trust

It's important to be as specific as possible in drafting a trust for your pet. You'll want to include:

  • The name and address of a trustee and alternate trustee (in case the original trustee is unavailable or unable to serve)
  • The name and address of a caregiver and alternate caregiver
  • Detailed information identifying your pet (such as microchip or DNA info)
  • Instructions for the trustee to regularly inspect the pet to prevent identity fraud
  • The standard of living and care you wish for your pet
  • A detailed description of the property that will fund the trust
  • Information on how the remainder of the trust should be distributed once your pet dies

Elements of a Pet Trust

The elements of a pet trust are the same regardless of the state where the trust is established. Every pet trust must, of course, name a trustee. The trustee disburses funds to the Caretaker who carries out the grantor's detailed directions concerning the pet's care and maintenance. The trust instrument may also designate a trust protector to disburse funds to the Caretaker.

The more specific the instructions, the easier it will be for the Caretaker to care for the pet. The pet trust should include specific instructions about all aspects of the pet's care, from the brand of food the pet prefers, to the park where he/she likes to walk, to the grantor's preferred veterinarian and groomer. A client with more than one pet can direct that the pets must live together.

It is not necessary to execute a new trust instrument each time a new animal joins the family. The trust may cover all animals that the grantor owns at the time of incapacity or death. If an animal requires special care, however, it is wise to designate the animal by name and description. Although it is not technically necessary to fund the pet trust, the named Caretaker may not be as willing to undertake the required responsibilities if funds have not been set aside for the pet's care. It is possible to fund a pet trust with a portion or all of the proceeds of a life insurance policy or any other property. As pet trusts will play an important role if the owner becomes incapacitated, it's recommended that the trust be funded during the grantor's lifetime as well and supplemented upon the grantor's death.

Types of Pet Trusts

Most trusts for the care of pets include the following:

  • Statutory Pet Trust - Some states are enacting statutes that allow for enforceable pet trusts. This generally means that the trust can designate a third party who will have the power to enforce the terms of the trust to compel the caretaker or trustee to use the trust funds for your pet. Some issues that arise with these trusts include whether the amount of funds in the trust is "reasonable" according to court standards, and who the designated third party to enforce the trust would be.
  • Honorary Trust -This is a type of trust set up for a specific purpose (such as to provide for a pet) but without a definite beneficiary. The problem with an honorary trust is that without a statute specifically authorizing it as a pet trust, it is essentially unenforceable.
  • Traditional Legal Pet Trusts - One of the best methods to ensure the care of your beloved pet is to set up a traditional legal Pet Trust. Your attorney can carefully add language to avoid problems. One method used is to actually place the pet and sufficient funds into the trust. The pet and the funds are the body of the trust. Your attorney then names the caretaker of your pet as the 'beneficiary' of the trust. You name a trustee - the party responsible for managing the funds and the caretaker.