Henry is a good cat. Actually, he is Henry II; Henry I fell victim to a coyote or a fox. Henry likes Fancy Feast cat food, and sometimes he chooses tuna fish.
I am faced with the problem many clients deal with, which is how to provide for Henry if something should happen to me. Massachusetts law does not allow trusts for pets, so it is not possible to make a provision for Henry directly, such as leaving a sum of money to him.
It is necessary to leave assets to a third party, in trust for your pet, and here is where you have to be careful. A client came to me recently with an idea for a trust - he was going to leave money in trust with a person to hold the funds for his dog for his life, and when the dog died the person who had been holding the money would receive it outright.
I suggested to my client that, with this provision in effect, when he died his dog would probably survive him by about one nanosecond. A nanosecond is one billionth of a second.
The reason for this is that the person who was holding the money would benefit from the dog's demise - not that he would do him in, of course, but that he might accelerate the date of his death. Unless you have great faith in the person to whom you entrust the money, they should not be the beneficiary of the funds when the animal is no more.
I have drafted a trust for Henry. He will be well taken care of if the need arises, and he can have tuna on Sundays. There is even enough money to buy him a scratching chair (he does not like scratching posts.)
Setting up a trust for your pet involves a number of questions. Some of the questions are who will be the trustee, will the trustee be paid, who will receive the funds when the pet dies, and should there be someone to monitor the care of the pet. If you would like to establish an arrangement so that your pet will be cared for, give us a call.
