PET TRUSTS NOW AVAILABLE IN OHIO
By Nancy J. Burns, Esq.
Effective January 1, 2007, Ohio pet owners can set aside money in a trust for the benefit of their pet. In the past, a pet owner's options were limited. A pet owner could leave their pet and some money to a person in their Will and hope that person would care for their pet. But that person had no legal duty to use the money for the pet. They could pocket the money and take the pet to a shelter. A pet was, and still is, legally considered personal property, like your jewelry or car.
Now, in Ohio, pet owners have a legally enforceable method of caring for their pets if the pet owner becomes disabled or dies. The pet owner can create a trust, put funds in it for care of the pet, name a caregiver for the pet, and name a trustee to manage the money and oversee the caregiver. The caregiver has to use the money to take care of the pet and if the money is used for something else, a judge can order the caregiver to return the money or remove the caregiver and appoint your second choice of caregiver.
So now you don't have to just hope your pet will be cared for-- you can set up a legal mechanism to give yourself peace of mind knowing that someone is legally required to care for your pet if you can no longer do so yourself.
Information You Will Need to Provide in Order to Have a Pet Trust Prepared:
- Who you would like to serve as trustee and one or two alternates in case one of them is unable to serve. The trustee can be an individual or a corporation that is capable of managing the trust funds and monitoring the care your pet is receiving.
- Who you would like to be the caregiver of your pet and one or two alternates. This should be someone who cares for animals and will provide a safe environment for your pet. When choosing alternates, you may want to consider a no-kill shelter, sanctuary, or other professional caregiver as your last alternate in case none of the people you name is available to care for your pet.
- Do you want the caregiver to be compensated for caring for your pet?
- The kind of care you want your pet to receive: for example, medical care, preferred food, medication, exercise, a particular veterinarian, their "standard of living", etc.
- Detailed description of your pet so the trustee can identify your pet. This is to prevent the trust continuing after your pet has died because the caregiver acquired a similar animal to continue collecting the trust funds!
- Who or what organization(s) you would like to receive the funds left in the trust after your pet dies.
- How you would like the caregiver to handle the disposition of your pet's remains.
If you already have a trust, you may not need to create a new trust to care for your pet. Your existing trust can be amended to include provisions for your pet. You cannot simply add your pet as a beneficiary of your Will. Even if you consider your pet a member of the family, the law does not permit you to leave money outright to an animal.
Funding Your Pet Trust
To determine how much money to put into ("fund") your pet trust, consider the following:
- life expectancy of your pet
- cost of current or future medical treatment
- whether or not to compensate the caregiver
- cost of basic care items such as food, medication, and grooming
NOT TOO LITTLE, NOT TOO MUCH. You will want to set aside enough so that the trust does not run out of funds during your pet's lifetime, but not so much to cause your heirs to contest your trust. If you put too much property in the trust, a judge may determine that the value of the trust property exceeds the amount necessary to care for your pet and order that the excess property be given back to the person who created the trust or to others named in the trust, or according to your estate plan.
NOW OR LATER. You can fund your pet trust during your lifetime or after your death. Your pet trust needs assets in it to pay for the care of your pet. If you fund your trust during your lifetime there will be assets immediately available to care for your pet if you become disabled or die. If you do not fund the trust during your lifetime and you become disabled, there would be no funds in the trust to care for your pet. If you died before funding the trust, assets may first have to pass through probate causing a delay before your trust receives funds to care for your pet.
For more information: www.trustformypet.com.
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