An estate plan generally addresses your home, your retirement accounts and your family heirlooms. But if something happened to you tomorrow, who would step in to care for your pets?
Leaving money to a friend or relative with only verbal instructions may not be enough. The good news is that you can establish a pet trust to ensure your animals receive the care you intend.
Viable legal protection for pets
Pennsylvania recognizes that pets need ongoing care and financial support when their owner dies. A pet trust, also called an animal trust, lets you set aside money and name someone to care for your pets after you die or become incapacitated.
The trust ends when the animal dies. If it covers more than one animal that was alive during your lifetime, it ends when the last of those animals dies. It can include all your current pets, even ones that are still in gestation when you die.
Key components of pet trusts
When you set up a pet trust, you need to make several important decisions, such as:
- Choosing a trustee: This person will manage the trust funds and make sure your pet receives proper care.
- Selecting a caregiver: This person will provide daily care for your pet.
- Determining funding amount: Calculate how much money your pet will need for food, veterinary care, grooming and other expenses.
- Providing detailed care instructions: Include information about diet, exercise routines, medical needs and preferences.
- Naming backup trustees and caregivers: Plan for situations if your first choices cannot serve.
The amount you allocate to your pet trust must be reasonable in the eyes of the court. This means you will have to consider your pet’s age, health needs and life expectancy when deciding how much to fund the trust. Overfunding could create issues, while underfunding would leave them without adequate resources.
Legal guidance matters
A pet’s needs are predictable in the day-to-day and unpredictable over a lifetime. A dedicated trust can provide structure for both. As you refine distributions, successor trustees and oversight provisions, professional input can help you avoid common drafting pitfalls and ensure the trust holds up when it is needed.
