putting your pet in your will?

[joemilitary]

Watching this sad video, that has a happy ending (apparently dog left behind when owner died, estate settled and house sold and dog lived under a nearby shack for a year alone in fear)     

 ....in the end of the video they mention in the comments section that you should put your pet in your will so this way your estate can't be settled until your pet is taken care of

Agree?  Disagree?  anyone doing this already?  Best way to ensure pet is taken care of if you pass away?

[garion2003]

Like this?

---------------------------------

Helmsley's Dog Gets $12 Million in Will

 
NEW YORK -- Leona Helmsley's dog will continue to live an opulent life, and then be buried alongside her in a mausoleum. But two of Helmsley's grandchildren got nothing from the late luxury hotelier and real estate billionaire's estate.


Helmsley left her beloved white Maltese, named Trouble, a $12 million trust fund, according to her will, which was made public Tuesday in surrogate court....

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/29/AR2007082900491.html

[movingforward]

I would absolutely want my pets taken care of.  I have actually never thought of putting my pets in a will.  I do have people in my life, who I believe, would care for them or make sure they go to a good home. 

[Bonny]

We have a Pet Trust. Caregiver and pet(s) get a monthly sum (a chunk of money is set aside and is used to fund the Pet Trust).

Too many sad stories of relatives unable to take in another pet (especially older animals that may have expensive health issues).

Then other than some small bequests our estate will be divided between a no kill pet shelter and a Land Trust (for land conservation purposes).

ETA: I didn't watch the video. I find it difficult to watch these kinds of things.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Yep.  The mutt has got 2 guardians (TD's mom and me) should something happen to TD, and an account to pay for his care.

[dannylion]

I would definitely provide instructions in my will for care of any pets I leave behind (after making sure the people I want them to go to want to have them) plus money to provide for their care. The cousins who are executors and beneficiaries of my estate are responsible, caring people, and I feel confident that they would make sure the pets were properly cared for, but it is best to spell it out anyway. It's just one less thing for you, the executors, and heirs to worry about.   

[mroped]

Love my dogs but that I will not do under any circumstances!
If I kick it and my kids don't have the heart to take care of my dogs then I raised two litle heathens.
Anyhow, what would be wrong with providing in your will a small amount as a donation to the local shelter along with the request to take the pet if none of the family wants the pet?
And if you hate your kids that much then there are many other kids that could benefit from your donation. I would think of that first before I pamper a pet to the extent of creating a trust fund for the care of it.

But hey! Each for his/her own!

[Deleted]

I don't even have a will for my kids. 

[The Captain]

Damn, didn't even think of this.

Something else to add to my to-do list.

[mollyanna58]

My aunt left $1,000. to whoever took her elderly cat in.  That wound up being me.  Only one of  my other siblings even considered it, and she's highly allergic to cats.  We're mostly a dog family.

Even if you don't formally put it in your will, you should ask someone you trust to take care of your pet(s) if needed.  My father has asked me to take in his dog if she should outlive my parents. 

[dannylion]

What is wrong with having your pets sent to a shelter? 

Well, for one thing, the likelihood that they will be euthanized after spending a few days or weeks of bewilderment and fear in a cage surrounded by other terrified animals not knowing what is going on.  There are a few well-managed shelters, and some shelters are no-kill, but no shelter is a good place for a beloved family pet. 

if I had no one to designate as a caregiver, I would specify that they were to be sent to Best Friends or another similar sanctuary and provide a very handsome bequest to care for them.  At least I would know they would be cared for in a safe, pleasant, pet-friendly environment and have a decent life even if they didn't find a new family.   I'd make sure my pets were cared for before anyone else got a penny of my estate. 

And I really do not care what anyone else might think of that.

[CarolinaKat]

Apr 8, 2015 10:15:38 GMT -5 mroped said:

Love my dogs but that I will not do under any circumstances!
If I kick it and my kids don't have the heart to take care of my dogs then I raised two litle heathens.
Anyhow, what would be wrong with providing in your will a small amount as a donation to the local shelter along with the request to take the pet if none of the family wants the pet?
And if you hate your kids that much then there are many other kids that could benefit from your donation. I would think of that first before I pamper a pet to the extent of creating a trust fund for the care of it.

But hey! Each for his/her own!

I like you

[TheHaitian]

Currently my parents in NJ and a small sum for that but that would require we both died.

Our will/trust is set
I die -> wife gets everything
She dies -> I get everything (except family heirloom returned to her family)
We both die -> 50/50 between my mom and her mom minus family heirlooms and money for Max.

We will need to revisit that after we have kids.

[andi9899]

Apr 8, 2015 10:26:11 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I don't even have a will for my kids. 

Join the club. I have meant to do that forever. I just never have. My mom and dad would fight Baby Daddy if he ever tried to take the girls. But since we haven't heard a word out of him in years, he probably wouldn't bother. I have much life insurance and my parents are the beneficiaries. That's as far as I have gotten with it.

[Deleted]

Apr 8, 2015 12:25:17 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

Apr 8, 2015 10:26:11 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I don't even have a will for my kids. 

Join the club. I have meant to do that forever. I just never have. My mom and dad would fight Baby Daddy if he ever tried to take the girls. But since we haven't heard a word out of him in years, he probably wouldn't bother. I have much life insurance and my parents are the beneficiaries. That's as far as I have gotten with it.

I'm in the "Cannot Die Club". 

Older son would be fine.  He'd go to his Dad's and there is lots of money, both in a life policy his Dad would get and DS is named the beneficiary on several of my accounts (plus the SS payments he would get). 

It's younger son I worry about.  I would like for him to be placed with his brother, but I'm sure his Dad would fight that and the money would be squandered and not used as intended.

[The Captain]

Apr 8, 2015 12:25:17 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

Apr 8, 2015 10:26:11 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I don't even have a will for my kids. 

Join the club. I have meant to do that forever. I just never have. My mom and dad would fight Baby Daddy if he ever tried to take the girls. But since we haven't heard a word out of him in years, he probably wouldn't bother. I have much life insurance and my parents are the beneficiaries. That's as far as I have gotten with it.

I wouldn't count on this.  Especially if he realizes he can get control of their SS survivor benefits.

One of my former co-workers had her niece come live with her even though the kid's father technically had custody.  He didn't give a shit about the kid.  They didn't get that mess straightened out until after the poor kid reached majority.

[andi9899]

True. He has always been broke. Last I knew, he was on welfare too. He may just look for another handout. I never thought of it that way.

[kittensaver]

Like others, our wills and trusts lawyer told us not to put the pets in our will - there are too many crazy complications. But we HAVE designated money for whoever ends up taking in our critters. Food, vet care and something for them for their kindness .

[haapai]

I love my dog but I won't put him in my will.  I'm not good at updating things.  I don't want my nephews to be too confused and frustrated twenty years from now.  I can easily see them questioning the neighbors, returning to the house and looking for a stuffed animal that might be Hans, and finally turning to the houseplants and wondering if one of them might be Hans.

Oh crap!  Do you realize what the next "Hans" candidate is? 

Forget naming the dog, I need to designate a porn and toys purger. 

[shanendoah]

The dogs aren't in the will, mostly because I know my family, and know that it wouldn't occur to them to not take care of the dogs. Ideally, if something happened to us right now, the dogs would go with Pop Tart, but that might also not be feasible, but I know my father, mother, or brother would take them. When we get older, I would hope that our kids would take care of dogs that outlived us, and I suspect Pop Tart would, but you can't always know what people's circumstances would be.

I would probably leave direction that if we had pets that outlived us and family/friends could not take them, a local rescue group called Old Dog Haven be contacted. We have fostered for ODH and donate money to them every year. They specialize in finding homes for older, and often sick, dogs. The rescue pays for the medical expenses of the dogs and the home provides the love. A lot of the dogs they help find homes for are the pets of people who have passed or had to be placed in a care facility, and family and friends just aren't in a place to take the dogs.

I would hope, though, to be like my grandfather. At one point, he just told the family there would be no more dogs for him, because he didn't want a dog to outlive him and the family to have to care for his dog after he passed. While the thought of not having a dog for the last year (or two) of my life seems kind of sad, I know how much work they can be, and I'd probably rather have some visiting hospice or therapy dog come visit me, so that I can cuddle for a bit without everything else.

[lexxy703]

I know that if I were to die soon my mom would definitely take my cats.  If I outlive my mom, as it should be, I don't know that anyone would take my pets since I don't have children & my brother doesn't particularly like cats in the house.  He would probably take them & make them live outside.  I'm not sure it would be better for them than going to a shelter & hopefully finding a new home.  I need to think about this.  Thanks for posting this.

[Deleted]

I'm leaving each of you a chicken in my will. 

[lexxy703]

Apr 8, 2015 13:45:21 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I'm leaving each of you a chicken in my will. 

My HOA will love that!

[Deleted]

Apr 8, 2015 13:53:26 GMT -5 lexxy703 said:

Apr 8, 2015 13:45:21 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

I'm leaving each of you a chicken in my will. 

My HOA will love that!

Especially if you get the rooster...

[imawino]

I guess now is when I admit I don't have a will at all?? 

My 401k, Roth, regular investment account and life insurance policy all have designated beneficiaries though.  And the home is owned JTWROS with the sweetie.  So all of that should be handled without too much hassle I suppose?  I own the house my dad & his wife live in, so I really do need to make a will that states that house goes to him.  But he and my brother are my legal next of kin, since the sweetie and I are not married, so I guess he would get it anyway?  Ugh.   I guess I really do need to do one.

As for my sweet dog & cats.  If something happened to just me my guy would keep them in our home.  If something happened to the both of us my father and his wife would take them (we've agreed, and I would take their ginormous dogs if something happened to them as well).  They would be very well loved and cared for there.  His wife would have my dog on a raw food diet and make her fast one day a week probably, but she'd be happy. 

ETA:  I love pets and always want to have one or more in my life, but I will have to think carefully about getting any at a certain age.  I would never want to take the chance of my pets becoming homeless and alone and trying to survive on their own.  Those videos make me cry.

[NastyWoman]

I hereby bequeath Goldie one gallon of water per month plus some flaky food stuff for the rest of his natural life, to be provided for out of the $20 I have set aside to pay for these costs.

There! That should do it, right?

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

We have provided for our pets in our wills.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

The nonprofit I'm with is a lifetime cat sanctuary as well as a cat rescue... a number of people plan for their cats for when they die (or can no longer and care for them) and in exchange for a surrender fee, their cats come and live at our 12-acre sanctuary. Just this past fall, an elderly man from Texas made arrangements to have the 8 stray cats he took care of sent to our sanctuary ... they were flown from Texas to Los Angeles and then Fed Ex (in a special vehicle) drove them up to us. He died a month later ~ but he knew his kitties would be OK and well taken care of. Another woman wanted to make sure her cats would be very comfortable with us when she can no longer care for them, so she helped fund an extension to our "senior house" (for older cats).

Even when people haven't made arrangements ahead of time, from time to time we get contacted by executors and trustees and family members who make the financial arrangements to have a loved one's cats come and stay with us. We've even had people from other countries make arrangements to ship their cats to us and pay the surrender fees.

[NastyWoman]

Molly, we did something similar for my dad's dog when dad passed away. None of us could keep the dog, so we found this place but it did require a certain amount of $$$ to get him in. After 6 months he was adopted out by a couple that wanted an older dog. They kept in contact with my sis by sending her a picture of him for the 5 years he lived with them. Dad had not left money to take care of the dog, but we all chipped in and to this day I think it was worth every penny we paid and I think dad would have been very pleased too.

[bobosensei]

Eventually I will stop having pets, but if something happens unexpectedly to both me and DH I know his parents would either take the dogs for find a suitable place for them.  If I knew I was dying I would find a place for them to go and money for their care as well as to compensate the caregiver before I died if it was possible.  I would be worrying about them on my deathbed otherwise.