Pet Trusts: Peace of Mind for You and Years of Happiness for Your Pet

What would your pet do without you? George Warshaw loves his rescued dog Bruiser so much that he not only created a pet trust for him, but also devoted part of his law practice towards helping other pet parents ensure their pets are protected throughout their life.

Attorney Warshaw recently spoke to a group of devoted dog and cat owners in Boston about the many benefits of establishing a pet trust for their furry family members. Most pet owners assume they will outlive their pet, but what if you become ill or die unexpectedly? An unspoken expectation or informal verbal agreement between you and a friend or relative that they will take care of your furry family member simply isn’t sufficient when it comes to ensuring your pet gets proper care during its lifetime.

Pet Trusts Aren’t Just for Wealthy or Single Pet Parents

Most people think of pet trusts as only for the Leona Helmsley’s of the world. Yet, companion animal trusts are for any pet owner who wants to set aside some funds and instructions that are legally enforceable to ensure his or her pet enjoys a stable, happy life until its death. According to attorney Warshaw, “Pet trusts give you legal authority to provide a substitute parent for your pet”.

Pet trusts also aren’t just for single pet owners. If a couple is tragically killed in a car accident, it ensures that someone they deem capable of caring for their beloved pet has legally documented instructions for the pet’s care throughout the remainder of its life.

A Trust Trumps a Will in Providing for Pets

Unlike a will, a pet trust can provide for your pet’s well being immediately upon your death, as well as when you become seriously ill or incapacitated. Wills must go through probate to take effect and this lengthy administrative process delays proper care for your pet. This is not the case with a pet trust, which also takes immediate effect in non life-ending circumstances, such as if you are in a coma for an indefinite period of time as the result of an accident or stroke and are unable to care for your pet.

The Benefits are in the Details

The beauty of a trust is that you can stipulate any details about your pet’s care that are important to you. From the type of food and treats it should be fed to whether it should be boarded at a kennel or cared for at home by a pet sitter when its appointed guardian is away, there is no limit to the level of detail you can incorporate into the trust. If you want your pet euthanized and cremated when it dies and its ashes spread in a favorite spot previously shared by you and your pet, you can specify that as well.

Budgeting for Your Pet’s Lifetime Care

The initial steps in creating a pet trust require that you determine a guardian or caregiver for your pet as well as a separate trustee to manage the funds you set aside for the pet’s lifetime care. One of the most challenging steps in creating a trust is determining how much money to set aside to fund the trust and provide for your pet in a manner to which it has become accustomed. For Leona Helmsley and her Maltese dog Trouble, that amounted to millions of dollars to maintain her dog's lifestyle, but for you that may be less than $10,000.

There are creative ways to fund a trust that don’t require you to come up with a lump sum of cash today. A small life insurance policy is one easy way to fund a pet trust. Keep in mind that life insurance will only take effect upon your death and it will not fund the trust if you become incapacitated.

Pet Care Expense Budgeting Tools

The ASPCA's financial breakdown of pet care costs for a variety of companion animals during their first year of life is a handy tool to use in projecting the annual expenses for a pet. The American Pet Products Association’s 2011-2012 National Pet Owner’s Survey also provides some helpful annual expense data for dog and cat owners. Either of these resources can be used as a baseline to help determine the cost of your pet’s care over its breed’s average lifespan.

An additional reserve should be included for non-routine medical expenses, which may be required as your pet ages to treat common diseases such as cancer or kidney disease. Upon the death of your pet, you can specify how you would like any remaining funds in the trust handled, such as leaving them to a charity or to the guardian as a “thank you” bonus.

Final Tips to Protect Your Pet

1. Pet Alert Card: Keep some type of pet alert card in your wallet at all times that notifies authorities that you have a pet at home and include the contact information of your pet’s emergency caregivers.
2. Document Important Data: Document critical information about your pet such as their medical history, service providers, photos and microchip information. Give a copy of it to their designated guardian and trustee.
3. Notify Your Vet: Just as you would inform your physician about your health care proxy, it is a good idea to notify your veterinarian that you have established a trust for your pet's long term care.
4. Prevent Trust Disputes: Consider stipulating in the trust that anyone who contests the pet trust will be disinherited from your estate. Not everyone will understand your desire to fund a trust for your pet’s long-term care and as a result, you want to protect any possibility of the trust getting contested.

Pets are considered family to most pet owners. In almost every state there is now a legal means of ensuring your furry family member is protected and properly cared for throughout its life. Take advantage of pet trust legislation to help ensure the lifelong happiness of your little fur baby.