Should I Leave Money to the Person Who is Taking Care of My Pets After My Death?

People often ask if they should leave money to whomever they are leaving their pet to. Every situation is unique and every family is unique, but we feel that leaving money to the person receiving your pet is a kindness.

Pets are a Responsibility 

Pets are a responsibility. While they have their own communication style and language, and while we as pet owners can be pretty in tune with what they’re saying, they cannot actually communicate their needs to us. But as pet owners, we are responsible for meeting those needs.

If it’s fiscally responsible of you to leave a financial gift to the person taking ownership of your pets at your death, that is an acknowledgment and a nice way to say thank you for taking on that responsibility.

Ways to Leave a Financial Gift

There are many ways you can leave a financial gift to the person who is taking your pets after your death. Below we’ll look at a few of them and the benefits of each.

Life Expectancy of the Pet

The first is to look at the life expectancy of the pet and leave a yearly allotment for each expected year the pet may live. Many people choose this method and it can easily be built into your Will or Trust.

Outright

You can choose to leave a lump sum directly to the individual you named to receive your pet at your death.

This is a simple and easy way to leave money to the person you’ve named to receive your pet, but there are some drawbacks.

First, because the gift was made outright there is no way to be certain that the funds are benefiting the pet.

Secondly, it’s important to keep in mind that if you make an outright gift, the person can keep the money and give your pet away without sharing the financial gift. This is why some people opt for a more complicated gifting method.

In Trust

You can leave the gift in trust for the benefit of the pet. Since pets are not humans, they cannot inherit assets as a normal human beneficiary would. But a trust can be established for their benefit.

When you create your pet trust, either under your Will or Trust Agreement, you will name a trustee to oversee the use of funds for the benefit of your pet. You can get very specific as to what the funds are to be used for or you can be more vague— leaving an allowance to the person who is caring for your pet for them to use however they choose. 

The benefit of the pet trust is the oversight by the trustee. The drawback is the maintenance. The trust will need to be maintained and a trustee will be required to serve as long as the trust is in effect. This could be many years and could be costly.

Shelters

You may have a pet that you know will go to a shelter rather than a loved one. Oftentimes, leaving a gift donation to a shelter can assure that your pet will go to the shelter you prefer where they will be well cared for and found a good home.

Don’t Give Money You Don’t Have to Give

We pet owners love our pets deeply. They are a very special and important part of our family. And it is good and right that we want to make sure they are cared for and loved long after we are gone.

But it’s also important to be very realistic about our estates while we are planning. We always advise that a client not take money that their children would need and gift it to the benefit of their pet.

Similarly, if your estate is well funded and there is money to care for the pets, we always advise that you do.

Call us at (404) 736-6066 or visit our website to schedule a consultation.