Pet Trusts

Trust Funds For Pets
Many people leave money in their wills to a person they've chosen who will care for their pet after they're gone. But, there's no guarantee the money will be used that way. Now, many animal lovers are setting up legal trust funds for their pets. They appoint a trustee who makes sure the caretaker is taking care of the pet properly.

David and Charlotte Congalton set up a trust fund for their pets, all 17 of them! "What you're looking for is a caretaker and the key issue is finding somebody who is going to share your compassion for animals," says David, adding, "These pets are our children." Congalton believes in the practice so much, he's written a book on the booming business of pet trusts.

The Benefits
"The benefits of having a pet trust are simply the peace of mind of knowing that an animal that you care about is going to be cared for once you're gone. That there's money set aside... that you don't have to rely on people to do what you're hoping they're going to do. You actually have set up a legal mechanism that will require people to do certain things. So that's the main benefit of a pet trust" says Paul Martinek, Editor of Lawyer's Weekly.

David Congalton agrees. "A trustee is the best. Because he or she can make sure that the money is being spent properly, can make sure that your pets are getting the adequate standard of care that you expected. It's just another level of oversight. It's a watchdog. It's a legal watchdog to protect your animals."

So how much will it cost to set up a pet trust?
"You're going to be paying an attorney to draft a document. That could be anywhere between $500 and $1,500 dollars. There will be annual administrative costs. You're effectively going to be choosing a caretaker and that person is going to be monitored most likely by a trustee. So, you're most likely going to have to pay an annual fee to the trustee to monitor the caretaker and that can get very expensive," says J.J. McNab, an estate planner.

Then you have to add in the costs for caring for the animal.
"We use $500 per year as a base line," says Congalton. That's if you have a healthy pet. But you also need to think about other expenses. For instance, how old is the animal? How much longer will it realistically live? Are there any special needs, like daily insulin shots for diabetes? Answers to questions like those could result in extra costs.

Which states have pet trust laws in place?
The following have laws that both allow pets to be named as beneficiaries of trusts and provide for enforcement of the trust by someone acting on the pet's behalf:

Tennessee

Bright Idea!
Congalton says there's one more important thing that you should carry with you at all times. It's a pet emergency card that's about the size of a credit card and that you can make at home.

"It has the name of caretaker and her phone number. It also has our home address. On the backside, it has the name, phone number, and address of our veterinarian. So, if we're in an accident, they can go through my wallet and say ‘oh, we got to get to this place because this guy has all these animals here. We better call the caretaker and make sure the animals are cared for.' That's absolutely important. We've also set up a photo identification system and a pet identification file for all of our animals. [A] pet identification system is paramount, because, if we were killed in that accident, people come in this house and see all these animals. But, they don't know what cat is which. They don't know which dog is which. So, we've set up this file system."

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