Henry is a good cat. He likes Fancy Feast. He thinks that the people at Paws and Claws, who bathed him and clipped his toe nails recently, are neat.
Henry is a Siamese. He sits in the sun and sleeps much of the day. One day he caught two small mice in my house.
I have wanted to establish a trust for Henry, so that he will be protected if he survives me. In the past, Massachusetts law did not recognize trusts for animals. One reason was that there was no way for the animal to enforce the trust, if the trustee did not do the right thing. Most other states, however, did accept trusts for animals.
Governor Patrick recently signed House Bill No. 1467, "An Act Relative to Trusts for the Care of Animals." This Act will be effective in ninety days.
The Act provides that the trust must terminate on the death of the animal for which it is established. Under the Act, no portion of the trust may be used for the trustee, except for reasonable fees and expenses.
You may remember that Leona Helmsley, known as "the queen of mean," left a trust fund of $12,000,000 for the benefit of her dog, Trouble. A judge in New York determined that $12,000,000 was a little much, and reduced the amount to $2,000,000. I followed the court proceeding on this, and had little sympathy for Trouble, because I felt that I, personally, could live comfortably on just half of $12,000,000!
Under the Massachusetts statute, if a judge finds that the amount of property held by the trust is more than that required for the care, maintenance, health, and appearance of the animal for which the trust was created, the judge can reduce the amount of the trust fund to an amount which is appropriate.
When you choose a trustee for your pet, make sure that the trustee will not benefit if the pet dies. For instance, if you provide that the trustee will receive the funds when your pet dies, there might be a temptation on the part of the trustee to advance the date of your pet's death.
