|
The continued care of your beloved dog, cat or other companion
animal is a concern raised by a many pet owners. These animals bring
you comfort, give love and can be as close to you as your family ever
was. You don’t want to abandon your animal friends.
Several
situations may arise that require immediate care for your pets. Sudden
illness may take you away from them. You may gradually lose the
ability to care for them due to your own infirmity. Or you may die,
leaving them alone.
You can plan to be certain they will not be
abandoned. I suggest that any pet owner do the following:
·
Arrange for a backup caretaker for your pets. You should always have
someone who checks on your well-being regularly. If they find that you
are ill, they should know whom to contact to care for your pets.
· Leave written
emergency instructions. Do your pets take any medications? Where is
their food, and how much do they get? Who is their veterinarian?
· Be certain that
you have a Durable Power of Attorney in place. It would allow your
agent to access your funds, and provide resources so your pets’
caretaker can buy supplies and pay the vet.
·
Mention your pet or pets in your Last Will and Testament. Texas law
had no formal method to leave funds for your animals’ care until 2006.
Then the legislature passed an amendment to the Texas Property Code
allowing you to establish a trust for the care of your pets – but only
pets that were alive during your own lifetime. You could not, for
instance, set up a trust for your dog and “any puppies born after” you
die. The law says that the trust must end on the death of the pets you
had while you were alive.
A Pet Trust can be established in a
Living Trust or in a Will. For instance, if you have a Living Trust
you can add a provision for the welfare of your pets during any time
that you become disabled. Then the trustee of your Living Trust will
have resources available specifically to care for your pets. If the
Pet Trust is contained inside your Will (a testamentary Pet Trust)
then it won’t take effect until you die, so you would need some other
plan to care for your pets if you become disabled.
The law
allows you to identify persons to whom the funds will pass after both
you and your pets have died. If you do not make the choice for
yourself, then the funds will pass to your heirs at law. Clearly it is
best to make the choice yourself.
What if you establish a Pet
Trust in your Will and an “interested” person thinks that you were
overly generous to the dogs, unnecessarily cutting into the money
available to the human heirs? Texas law says that the trust funds may
be “applied to a use other than the property's intended use under the
trust to the extent the court determines that the value of the trust
property exceeds the amount required for the intended use.” In other
words, leaving a million dollars for the care of your dog can be
challenged, and the excess funds that are not realistically needed for
the dog can be distributed to the human heirs named in the trust
instrument (or to your heirs at law if the instrument is silent).
If you have not already considered the welfare of your pets,
consult with your Elder Law attorney about modifying your existing
plan, or creating a new plan to care for your pets upon your
disability or demise.
|
