Caring For Your Pets After You Die

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Article Title:

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Caring For Your Pets After You Die

Article Description:

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Would Fido and Fluffy be provided for in the event of your

untimley death or if you became incapacitated? Here's how you

can insure that your pets get the proper care in the event

that you're not able to give it to them.

Additional Article Information:

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516 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line

Distribution Date and Time: Thu Jun 30 18:34:53 EDT 2005

Written By: Gene Sower

Copyright: 2005

Contact Email: mailto:gene.sower@...

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Caring For Your Pets After You Die

Copyright © 2005 Gene Sower

Lucy The Wonder Dog, LLC

http://www.lucythewonderdog.com/

While you may be planning to outlive your pets, what if something

were to happen to you? Would Fido and Fluffy be provided for in

the event of your untimley death or if you became incapacitated?

Here's how you can insure that your pets get the proper care in

the event that you're not able to give it to them.

According to a recent New York Times article, " leaving money to

your pet became legally possible in 1990 when a section

validating trusts for domestic animals was added to the Uniform

Probate Code " which governs these types of matters. And laws in

27 states now allow pet owners to set up trusts for their pets to

pay for their care should you die or become incapacitated. And

more states, including Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts,

Oregon, Pennsylvania and Texas, all have pet trust legislation

pending.

A trust for your pet is really no different than a trust for your

children. It basically is a legal document that is tied to a sum

of money set aside in a bank account with a trustee named to

manage the account on behalf of the person establishing the

trust.

For instance, my wife and I both have insurance trusts set up to

benefit our son in the event of our becoming incapacitated or

deaths. My wife is the executor of my trust as well as the

primary beneficiary and I'm the executor and beneficiary of her

trust with our son the secondary beneficiary of both trusts. In

the event that something were to happen to both my wife and I at

the same time, my sister and my wife's brother have been named as

co-executors. They have explicit instructions spelled out within

the trust on how we want our insurance policies disbursed to each

other or to our son.

Same with pets.

The NY Times article went on to report that unless specific

instructions are left in a will or with other family members,

pets are often given up or displaced with nearly 500,000 pets

killed in shelters and vet offices each year after their owners

die and the pets become abandoned.

Setting up a trust fund can cost a few hundred dollars or even a

lot less if you do it at the same time that you draw up a regular

will. And speaking of wills, yes, you can provide for the care

of your pets in a regular will but that only kicks in upon your

death and not if you're seriously ill or incapacitated. And

experts also caution not to leave excessive amounts of money to

pets that may cause challenges from other heirs. If you want

your pet to continue living in the style it's accustomed to,

$5,000 - $10,000 per animal should suffice. Some people leave

more and some less. It's entirely up to you.

The Humane Society of the United States offers a free kit that

helps you evaluate your pets' future without you. It includes a

six-page fact sheet, caregiver forms and more. You can contact

them at 202.452.1100 or via email at

mailto:petsinwillsrp@...

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Written by Gene R. Sower

Owner

Lucy The Wonder Dog, LLC

http://www.lucythewonderdog.com

Publisher of the DOG BYTES Newsletter

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too!) " Get your complimentary subscription to DOG BYTES here:

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