Estate Planning for Your Pets

Does your estate plan include instructions regarding who will care for your pets after you die or if you become disabled or seriously ill?

Ronald P. Adams

When you become incapacitated or pass away, the strategic planning that you put in place to provide for your loved ones goes to work. The important things will be taken care of. Your bills continue to get paid, your investments continue to grow for future generations, and any minor children are cared for by loving guardians.

It seems like you thought of everything – but what about your very dependant four-legged family members?

What Happens to Fluffy and Spot?

Some pet owners never consider who will care for their furry companions. Many assume that a relative or good friend will step up to the task. That's an unwise assumption.

Every year, animal shelters take in pets whose owners passed away. Usually a family member or neighbor drops the animals off. Most apologize and say that their loved one or friend made no plans. Once cared for and loved, these animals have no home. Many will likely be put down.

Here's one vivid example that illustrates the need to make better plans:

One day a group of seven pedigreed dogs were dropped off at a Humane Society facility: two Whippets, two Irish Setters, two Toy Fox Terriers and a Chihuahua. They came with AKC papers, receipts from when they were purchased, complete family trees and a thick file of medical records.

It was obvious that their owner loved and treasured them, but when she was diagnosed with cancer, she did not make plans for their care after her death. There was no chance that all of these dogs, that were raised together, would be adopted to the same home.

A little planning today can help your client's pets avoid a similar fate.

Making Better Plans for Pets

Here's a checklist to help clients plan for their pets:

• Identify and designate someone (and at least one alternate) to assume ownership for the pets.

• Keep in touch with them to ensure that they are still willing, especially if a pet has special needs.

• Carry a "pet alert" wallet card listing names and phone numbers of the pet's emergency caregivers.

• Authorize payments to provide food, veterinary care, grooming, exercise, socialization, etc.

• In any documents, use language that refers to "pets" rather than names. This will ensure that no newly added pets will be left out and that there is no need to update documents.

• Name a "trust protector" to oversee a pet's new owner and any funds set aside for the pet's care.

• Ask an attorney how to include estate planning document language that will protect the pet.

There are additional planning decision to be made, including the criteria to be used to determine when it's time to euthanize a sick pet, who will make that difficult decision, and how that pet's remains should be disposed.

Hoopes, Adams & Alexander, PLC, is a Chandler, Arizona, law firm offering services to Phoenix-area clients in the areas of estate planning, entity formation, commercial and real estate transactions, and civil litigation.