What About Your Pets?

Lately, more of my clients want to take care of their pets. If you get sick or die, how do you take care of your pets? The law in this area varies from state to state. The only thing we are sure of is that your pet cannot be named as a beneficiary. Your pet is tangible personal property and cannot be named as an heir or beneficiary but there are ways to provide for them.

During your lifetime, you can add to your financial power of attorney language giving to your agent the right to care for your pet, obtain veterinarian care for your pet and the authority to use your funds to pay for these services. You can also create a limited power of attorney, created specifically to care for your pet.

At death, if you want to make sure your pet is provided for, you must specifically give to your executor the right and authority to determine who is going to take care of the pet and sufficient money for the pet’s care. Most people leave their pet to a no kill shelter with sufficient bequests of money to care for the pet. In some families, there is often a family member willing to care for the pet.
When we create these instructions on who gets the pet and the money to care for the debts, the will language must be specific and guarantee that that person will care for the pet and not euthanize the pet to get the money.

Finally, some states allow the creation of a pet trust. This trust would care for the pet until the pet passes. The trust will then provide who or what agency receives the balance of the trust.
I often state in my articles, if this is something you want to do, make sure you deal with an attorney who is familiar with these issues. Don’t do it alone because many probate courts will not allow distributions to take care of animals unless the language spells it out perfectly.

Questions, comments or ideas about future articles contact me at jurban.gcu@GCUusa.com

Atty. John J. Urban