Can You Include Pets In Your Estate Plan? Considerations For Pet Owners In Travis County

As any pet owner can tell you, few companions are as loyal or as beloved as our four-legged or feathered friends. But loyalty should go both ways, too, and caring for our pets after we pass is just as important as doing so while we are alive. This article explains how to include your pet in your estate plan in Texas, including

• Why it is important to include your pet in your estate plan.
• What a pet trust is, and how it works to protect your pets after you pass.
• Some challenges for pet owners and options for leaving assets for their care.

Why Is It Important To Include Pets In Your Estate Plan?

Under the law, pets are simple property, just like your books, your computers or your cars. As a result, without your intervention, they simply pass with your estate. Unfortunately, that does not mean that they will be cared for the way you want them to be.

For many of us, our pets are like our children. We want to make sure that they are not left bereft and end up in a shelter. I have two French bulldogs myself that are very high in maintenance; I would not trust just anyone to take them and care for them properly.

It is, therefore, important to make sure that you have a plan in place for what happens to your pets.  Sometimes, this is as simple as a request that someone care for the pets till the end of their natural life. It is also very common to leave a small sum of money, say $5,000, to that person, as long as they will care for your pets. Or you can do something formal like a pet trust.

What Is A Pet Trust, And How Does It Work?

There are many different kinds of trusts available for those seeking to do any advanced estate planning. The main people involved in a trust are the grantor (who puts the assets in), the trustee (who will manage the assets) and the beneficiary (who the assets are being held for).

A pet trust is unusual because the beneficiary is not a person but a pet. Everything in the trust is being held for the benefit of the pet. However, pets are not legally recognized as people, nor do they have opposable thumbs. They cannot write checks or manage their own accounts. Therefore, you also have to have someone in charge of that money. You, as the grantor, can use a pet trust to leave money for the benefit of the pet and assign someone to be in charge of monitoring those funds and making sure they are being used appropriately.

I once created a pet trust, leaving $250,000 for the care of a pair of Rottweilers. Such pet trusts are becoming more and more popular as people choose to have pets instead of (or after) children.

Another advantage of the pet trust is that it allows you to assign to one person the care of your pet and to another the oversight on the money for that care. Having someone monitor that the funds are being correctly used and writing the checks ensures there is never a question of whether there is money available for food or whether funds set aside for medical care are being misused.

How Can You Ensure Funds Left For Pets Are Used Appropriately?

Not everyone cares for your pet as much as you do, nor can anyone be trusted with their care. If all you do is leave a lump sum to a friend or neighbour and ask them to care for the pet, there is little assurance that they will do so.

In one case, I had an executor take the money and then try to have the dog euthanized without any kind of checks and balances in the will to prevent that. There was no binding clause to stop them or the person assigned to oversee that the pet was being cared for. Fortunately, I intervened and made sure that did not happen in that case, but it was attempted and could happen to yours if you were not careful.

That is one of the advantages of using a pet trust, which creates a more formal and binding arrangement, often with one person to care for the animal and another to make sure they are doing so.

Attorney Farren Sheehan is a compassionate Texas estate planning lawyer and pet owner. She has helped countless clients just like you set up protections for their loved ones, including beloved pets. When it comes to navigating the intricacies of estate planning, you and your pets will be in excellent hands in her care.

Does your estate plan include protections for your beloved pets? Contact Farren Sheehan today to schedule an initial consultation to discuss your options for their care.

Can You Leave Your Home To Someone Caring For Your Pets?

If you do not want to destabilize your pets by making them move, you can set up a formal pet trust and leave your home to the trust for the benefit of the pets. You can also include that the home be given to the person you left in charge of them after their death.

Of course, you’d also have to leave enough money to pay for the care and upkeep of the house and pets.

It is natural to want your pets to remain in their home just as you might with children. Fortunately, such estate planning tools can be implemented with the help of an attorney to ensure they are not uprooted, especially when you have older pets.

Are Pet Care Arrangements Legally Binding In Travis County, Texas?

Not all estate planning arrangements are created equal; some are more binding than others.

There are arrangements that can be made through local charities, such as Austin Pets Alive, where a certain amount of money will ensure that your pet is appropriately placed and cared for the rest of their life. Such arrangements are signed contracts and, therefore, are legally binding.

A pet trust would also be binding. Such an arrangement is technically a gift to someone asking them to care for your pet, which is what we call a conditional bequest. This means that it is a bequest to someone on the condition that they do something and is binding as long as someone makes sure that the person follows through.

What Are The Most Common Challenges When Estate Planning For A Pet’s Care?

Finding someone who will care for your pets the way you would want them cared for is always the most difficult and important challenge. It is simple to get someone to agree to feed them on a regular basis and give them their medicine in exchange for money. However, as a pet owner, you probably have an emotional attachment to your animals, and it is only natural to want to make sure they receive the same love and affection when you are gone.

Unfortunately, that is something that is hard to ensure legally. That is why you need to be very careful when you select people and give them this kind of responsibility. You have to make sure they are people who will not just follow through with their legal obligations but will care for them deeply and genuinely.

If you have concerns about the level of care they receive, you can, however, also put someone else in charge of the funds who can verify that things are being done the way you would want them to be. Doing so can be complicated, however, which is why a good estate planning attorney is essential to the pet planning process.

Is your pet cared for in your estate plan?

For more information on How To Include Pets In Your Estate Plan, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (512) 355-0155 today.