Bay Area Estate And Tax Planning Law Firm

Loving and caring for a cherished companion via a pet trust

On Behalf of | Aug 10, 2020 | Estate Planning |

The current health pandemic has obviously upended the lives of millions of American families in material ways.

Ironically, though, it has also been the catalyst for home improvement on at least one front for legions of families spanning the country. Since the inception of stay-home guidelines earlier this spring, shelters and other providers have reported a steady decline in the number of animals in their facilities. It turns out that individuals and families from California to Maine have been adopting pets by the millions during the national health scare.

That is for many reasons, of course, ranging from compassion to an elemental need for companionship.

Pets often provide a near magical elixir when they enter a family circle. It stands to reason that the people who love them want to ensure their continued care and well-being for as long as they live.

Pet trusts have increasingly helped to promote those key aims for some years now. Once regarded judicially as mere property, pets are more uniformly regarded these days as living beings that can be provided for via soundly tailored estate planning instruments.

A pet trust perfectly fits the bill. Its creator sets forth its care guidelines and provides funding for the future care of an animal. A trustee is designated to manage the trust, with a key responsibility being to give assets as directed to a named caregiver. A pet trust will logically terminate when a beneficiary animal passes away.

Pet trusts were once exceedingly rare. Now a pet trust is a commonly executed estate planning instrument of recognized utility. Questions regarding its establishment and applications can be directed to an experienced estate planning attorney.

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