We haven’t talked about pets in a while. Do you have any pets? You may have a cat or dog which you likely consider a member of your family. You may have a bird, an iguana or like my nephew, snakes. You may be so close to your pet that you are even more concerned about what happens to it than what happens to other members of your family.
It costs money to care for your pets. There is food, veterinary bills and housing. If you have made no plans for the care of your pets when you cannot and no one else wants to provide the care, your pet may end up at the local animal shelter. If your pet is not adopted from the shelter after a certain period of time, your pet may be “put to sleep,” permanently. This is not the result that most people would want. Most pet owners want to make sure that their pets are taken care of for the rest of their natural lifetimes.
But how can you provide for your pets? How can you make sure that Fifi your French poodle or Puff your cat are going to be taken care of? If you are no longer able to care for your pet because of your mental incapacity or your death, you can put provisions in your estate plan to assure that your pets are not abandoned.
In the event of your mental incapacity, you can put provisions in your general durable power of attorney that your assets could be used not only for your own care, but also for the care of your pets. You can designate the adoptive home of your pets and also give funds to your pets’ caregiver with which to care for your pets. Indicate who is your pets’ veterinarian.
If you have a Michigan trust, you can include similar provisions in your trust to take effect both during your mental incapacity and after your death. After your gone, you can leave instructions to set aside a certain portion of your trust assets for the care of your pets for their lifetimes.
When determining the amounts to set aside, you must take into consideration the total cost of care and the life expectancies of your pets. With proper planning, your pets are provided for and you are given piece of mind that your pets will not prematurely end up in the great kennel in the sky.
When setting up a pet trust, you must choose a trustee for the trust funds. Your pets’ caregiver and the pet fund trustee are often the same. However, the pet fund trustee does not necessarily have to be your pets’ caregiver. Sometimes it is best to separate the two functions. The person who may make a warm and loving home for your pets might not be the best money manager and vice versa.
If you do not have family or friends that could be your pets’ caregiver, all is not lost. There are a number of charitable and other organizations whose primary mission is to care for pets whose owners have died or can no longer care for them. You can find them by surfing the internet. A non-exhaustive list can also be found at the website: http://www.professorbeyer.com/Articles/Animals_More_Information.htm#Organizations Providing Animal Care After Owners Death:
You also have to decide what is going to happen to the trust funds you set aside for your pets after your pets are gone. You may want whatever is not spent on your pets to go to your pets’ caregiver. That is all well and good, but you must be particular in choosing your pets’ caregiver. If you have a thoughtless caregiver and direct that he or she receive the remainder of your pets’ trust funds after your pets’ lifetimes, your pets could have very short lifetimes.
So choose your pets’ caregiver and pet fund trustee wisely and your pets will have the opportunity to live long, healthy and happy lives.
By: Matthew M. Wallace, CPA, JD
Published edited August 21, 2011 in The Times Herald newspaper, Port Huron, Michigan as: Pet care: Don’t forget to put Fifi in your trust