Thinking ahead about your belongings is certainly an important part of estate planning, but you might also be concerned about your furry friends, too. The sudden death of an owner is difficult for your pets, but taking some precautionary measures to determine who will help take care of them and how that will be funded can give you peace of mind and ensure someone is ready to act quickly should something happen.
Most people have a great deal of love and concern for their pets and it’s reasonable to be worried about what will happen to them when you pass away. However, it’s not possible to leave an estate directly to your pet. Since animals don’t maintain legal rights to own property, you need to incorporate planning for a pet into your estate overall. The whole of your estate or part of your estate can be left for a pet’s benefit. There are two primary options for doing this.
One is a pet trust. Any trust document can establish the trust purpose as well as who is to benefit from it. A less expensive alternative is to leave a sum of money and your pet to a designated individual without the need for a trust but a trust can help to articulate your primary concerns and ensure that the person who you have named in this role is interested in playing such a role.
