Your estate plan probably includes detailed instructions concerning who should receive your property, who will administer your estate, and who can make important decisions for you if you become incapacitated. If you share your home with a pet, though, your plan should also address what will happen to that animal if you can no longer provide care. A dog, cat, horse, bird, or other companion animal depends entirely on you for food, housing, veterinary treatment, medication, and daily attention. Your death or incapacity does not eliminate those needs. Without advance planning, family members may be forced to make hurried decisions about your pet at an already difficult time. Incorporating pet planning into your Indiana estate plan allows you to identify a caregiver, provide financial resources, document your pet’s needs, and create a legally structured plan for continuing care. With that in mind, the Indianapolis lawyers at Frank & Kraft discuss pet planning in your Indiana estate plan.
Why Should Your Indiana Estate Plan Address Your Pets?
People frequently consider their pets members of the family, but the law does not treat animals the same way it treats human beneficiaries. Consequently, you cannot simply leave money or other property directly to your pet and expect the animal to inherit and manage those assets. Instead, your estate plan needs to create a structure through which people can care for your pet and financial resources can be made available for that care.
Without appropriate planning, the responsibility for deciding what happens to your pet could fall to family members or the individual administering your estate. Those people may genuinely want what is best for the animal, but they may not know whom you would have selected as a caregiver or what type of care you expected.
Consider What Could Happen Without a Pet Plan
The need for pet planning becomes clearer when you consider what could happen following an unexpected medical emergency. Suppose you live alone and are hospitalized after an accident. Your dog requires medication twice each day, but no one knows where the medication is stored or which veterinarian prescribed it. A neighbor may be willing to feed your dog temporarily but cannot assume long-term responsibility.
Likewise, if you die unexpectedly your family may need to determine who can immediately take your pet. If no one has enough space, lives in pet-friendly housing, or is willing to accept responsibility, the animal could need temporary boarding or placement with a shelter or rescue organization. Meanwhile, your pet still requires food, medication, veterinary attention, exercise, and companionship.
Estate administration does not happen instantly. As a result, relying exclusively on what happens after your estate is opened can leave a practical gap between the moment you can no longer provide care and the time formal arrangements can be implemented.
Choose Your Pet’s Caregiver Carefully
Identifying the right caregiver is one of the most important decisions in a pet plan. Your first instinct may be to choose a child, sibling, friend, or neighbor who loves your pet, but affection should not be your only consideration. Think realistically about whether the person can assume responsibility for the animal. Does the individual have enough space? Does the person’s housing permit animals? Are there other pets or children in the household that could create compatibility problems? Can the caregiver handle a large or energetic dog, an animal with behavioral issues, or a pet that requires extensive medical treatment? Finally, before naming anyone, discuss your intentions with that person. Do not assume that a friend or family member will automatically agree to take your pet.
Do Not Rely Exclusively on a Verbal Promise
You may already have a family member or friend who has promised, “If anything happens to you, I’ll take the dog.” While that conversation is useful, circumstances change and the person may relocate, develop health problems, move into housing that prohibits animals, experience financial difficulties, or acquire other pets that are incompatible with yours.
Your family may also have a different recollection of what you wanted. One relative might insist that you wanted your cat to remain with a particular friend, while another believes you intended the pet to go to a family member. If your intentions exist only in conversations, resolving that disagreement can become difficult. Formalizing your wishes as part of your estate plan provides considerably more certainty than relying exclusively on an informal understanding.
Can You Provide for a Pet in Your Last Will and Testament?
Your Last Will and Testament can be used to identify the person you want to receive your pet, and you may also make a financial gift intended to help that person cover the animal’s future expenses. A Will, however, does not provide a comprehensive solution if you become incapacitated but remains alive and does not provide for your pet while your estate is being probated.
An Indiana Pet Trust May Provide Greater Protection
A pet trust can offer a more comprehensive way to provide for a companion animal. Indiana law permits a trust to be created for the care of an animal alive during the Settlor’s lifetime, allowing you to establish legally enforceable instructions concerning your pet while setting aside property to pay for appropriate care. Instead of simply giving money outright to the person who receives your pet, a trust creates a structure for managing those funds.
Your pet trust can identify the animal or animals covered by the plan, establish care expectations, and specify how trust property should be used. Depending on your overall estate plan, pet planning provisions might be incorporated into a broader trust arrangement or addressed through a separate trust designed specifically for your animals.
The Caregiver and Trustee Can Serve Different Functions
A pet trust allows you to separate responsibility for caring for the animal from responsibility for managing the money. The caregiver handles your pet’s daily life, providing food, exercise, transportation, companionship, grooming, medication, and other routine care. The Trustee manages the money or property held in trust and makes distributions according to the trust instructions. You may appoint the same individual to both positions, but using different people can provide an additional level of accountability.
Can We Help You with Pet Planning in Your Indiana Estate Plan?
For more information, please join us for an upcoming FREE seminar. If you would like assistance to incorporate pet planning into your Indiana estate plan, contact the experienced Indianapolis estate planning attorneys at Frank & Kraft by calling (317) 684-1100 to schedule an appointment.
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