Your pets are a part of your family. Like children, they are completely dependent on your care. If something happens to you, do you have a plan for your pet? In Kentucky, you can create a trust specifically for the care of your pet. Estate planning does not only include your assets and property, estate planning includes pets too, according to the Balance.
When you set up a pet trust, you are the grantor. The trust works similarly to the way that you would set up a trust for human beneficiaries. You have a trust and a trustee. The trustee is the one who holds the assets and cash for your pet’s benefit. Often, the trust holds funds that can cover vet care, feeding, grooming and more. You can even dictate how you want the trustee to handle the pet’s end of life care.
Pet trusts remain active for as long as the pet remains alive. The pet trust can cover a variety of animals. It can cover dogs, cats, reptiles, birds and even horses. To establish the trust, you follow similar rules to any other trust. You draft a document and make sure to cover every base. For instance, you want to remember to include what will happen to the money once your pet passes away, who you want to act as caregiver to the pet, what standard of care your pet has now and any other details that will help with the care of your animal friend.
None of the information provided is meant to be interpreted as legal advice. It is for informational purposes only.
