Animal owners set up trust funds for their pets

By Richard Willing, USA TODAY

For the pet who has everything, how about a $25,000 trust fund?

Over the past 10 years, 16 states from New York to Alaska have passed laws that allow pet owners to set up trust funds to take care of Rex or Fluffy after the owner has died, just as if the animals were minor children.

The most recent law, signed in April by Florida's governor, takes effect in January.

The average amount left to pets is about $25,000, says Lawyers Weekly USA, a trade journal that has surveyed pet lawyers.

The pet trust laws buck centuries of legal precedent frowning on the practice, in part because the trusts have no human beneficiary. But unlike other recent attempts to expand the legal standing of pets and other animals, the pet trust movement largely has been without controversy.

"This is clearly an idea whose time has come," says Gerry Beyer, an estate law professor at St. Mary's University in San Antonio who has written about pet trusts.

"The idea (of a trust fund for a pet) has gone from something that seems laughable to something that's very mainstream, almost overnight," Beyer says.

Americans own a huge number of pets, including about 68 million dogs and 73 million cats, according to a 2000 estimate by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. The impulse to protect them after one's demise has always been strong and, for some, overwhelming.

In 1993, tobacco heiress Doris Duke left $100,000 to her dog Rodeo, a Shar-Pei. A will written by actress Betty White is reported to leave all of her $5 million estate to her pets. And British singer Dusty Springfield's 1999 will specifies that a bequest for her cat Nicholas be spent on a lifetime supply of his favorite meal, imported baby food.

Courts have often invalidated such trusts because they were considered excessive or because their duration was not based on a human life, a traditional measure for a trust.

But a 1993 change in the Uniform Probate Code, a legal model used by many state systems, allows trusts for pets that continue for the pet's lifetime. The states quickly followed with laws of their own.

Now, by adding only a sentence or two to an ordinary will, pet owners can designate an amount to be spent on the pet and a trustee to carry that out under court supervision.

In three of the 16 states with pet laws — California, Missouri and Tennessee — trusts can be set up, but the trustee is not legally required to carry out the terms.

Lawyers Weekly editor Paul Martinek estimates that "dozens if not hundreds" of pet trusts have been set up under the new laws.

Pet trusts are not without drawbacks. Animals can't complain to a probate judge if their trustee is shortchanging them on food or accommodations. And a dishonest trustee could fraudulently extend the life of the trust to continue receiving a trustee stipend.

Beyer has written of a San Francisco maid who was appointed trustee for an ordinary looking black cat. When the cat died, the woman adopted a look-alike to keep the trust fees flowing. She was on her second replacement cat before she was detected.

But pet laws do take into account one key fact of modern life: Surviving adult children may be reluctant to carry out a parent's final wishes.

"If it was just you and your pet, and you weren't so sure that your kids halfway across the country would take them, the only way you might get peace of mind is by (setting up a pet trust)," Martinek says.

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2002

Answers

I haven't set up a trust fund, but I do have instructions to my Executor not to turn my pets over to an animal shelter or to allow them to be gassed. Either a good home is found, or they are put down humanely (e.g., by injection).

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2002

Although the Hungarian has instuctions (via our wills) to take care of the cats, I'm thinking of asking our vet to take over the care of their future. I'm thinking of this because the Hungarian has a large number of cats already and the number doesn't go down because she replaces any deceased ones almost immediately. Obviously, my vet would be in a good position to take care of the cats or find someone who would/could, especially with the added bonus of a house the animals are familiar with. He or another caretaker would, of course, be adequately compensated and able to feed and care for the cats via whatever has accumulated monetarily in the estate by means of life insurance and other assets.

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2002

>The average amount left to pets is about $25,000, s

Wow! My kitty's caretaker will get 5K, which doesn't sound like much if there are major vet bills, but the potential caretaker offered to take her for free and doesn't know about this fund.

I think one of the saddest cases is when an elderly, pampered house pet gets dumped in a shelter because the owner passed away or was put in a nursing home. This is how I got my kitty. I hope that her former owner somehow knows that this little cat ended up in a home where she has *her* chair, endless paper wads tossed down the hall for her to chase, and lots of sunny spots for snoozing. . .

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2002

wellllll, we spent 2 hrs at the atts. office last sat. thought it was all cleared up, and the att. was going to be in charge of my horses and pets shoulf we "go" in an accident together!

then I just got a call, she has to let her practice go on hold and suggests we get another att since there is personnel problems and she has to quit private practice for a while...(dad is dying and she needs to help her mother with caretaking and she has a farm and a small child.

anyway, the will would have stated they were to have good homes, NOT in a shelter of pen, and if no home could be found HUMANELY put to sleep, and ashes scattered out here.

my other friend has it written in will if she dies they are to be cremated and buried with her...as she does not WANT THEM CONFINED IN A CAGE ...

as I have said, when these go, I plan on not replacing them, it hurts tooooo much when they die.

I am still crying for my girlfriend that lost her mare last week. I go out to the barn, hug "her son" and cry.

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2002

SAR, you'll miss having animals underfoot too much.

2 - 3 cats aren't nearly as much work or expense as you have now.

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2002

I'm with you, SAR--I can't stand it when one of them dies. In addition, as we get older we don't need the responsibility or danger of a pet around. At the vet's office yesterday, a woman said she was bringing the two puppies in for her mother who was in a cast from the waist down--she had broken her hip and femur falling over two of her cats who were chasing down the hall! Ouch!

I want us to be able to move into an old folk's neighborhood/apartment complex/whatever when we get older. I won't be able to keep up a yard or do the minor repairs necessary to keep up a regular home. I know some complexes accept one or two small pets but not the number we have (or SAR has!).

Other possible solutions include a no-kill shelter/sanctuary. The North Shore Animal League is one (somewhere in the NE, I think) and then there's a sanctuary in Utah, called something Friends. Both are on the net. Locally, we have two no-kill independent shelters who will take your pets and find homes for them. They may have to be in cages temporarily but will be found good homes. Donations from a will will ensure good care for your pets at these places.

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2002

In ten years, your wonderful, furry herds will be less in number. I have been catless on occasion, and it's tough! One or two older cats really aren't that much work after you've taken care of the number you've had. And I have lived in households with 14+ cats . . . okay to visit, but that was just too many animals for the size of house. And I love kitties!

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2002

well, truth be told, I have never been with out some kind of pet...so maybe ONE for when I am old...but the zoo crew I have now was never meant to be this large, I am just a softy....so I will prolly only have one.

I was doing dishes and had the news on, they said WNV can infect cats and dogs, and we KNOW horses..I had a horrible thought..what if they all went at once! !!!!!!????

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2002

Just keep lots of catnip on hand for them to roll in, SAR!

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2002