If you have pets, I’m sure you love them, but you may not have not provided any written or, better yet, legally documented instructions about what should happen to them if you become incapacitated or when you die. If you have, read this article with an eye to ensuring you’ve checked all the right boxes. If you haven’t, read on because it’s time to act, and this knowledge will make it easier for you to do things right.
Let’s start by looking at what happens if you become incapacitated or when you die if you’ve done nothing to ensure the well-being and care of your pets. It may be that if you do nothing, one or more of your friends and family will step forward to take care of your pets. But, will the person who steps forward be the person you would choose? And, will they take care of your pets the way you want?
If you do care, you need to take action rather than just leaving the well-being and care of your pets to chance. If you don’t designate at least one person, and ideally one person plus backups to care for your pets, and provide instructions to the people you’ve named, and perhaps also money to support the care of your pets, your pets could become a burden to your friends and family, or even end up at the humane society.
Steps to Plan for Your Pet’s Care in Your Estate Plan
So, step one in all circumstances is to legally name the people you would want to care for your pets in the event you cannot.
Step two is to give the people you’ve named specific instructions about how you want your pets to be cared for if you cannot do it including type and amounts of food, any medications needed, exercise plan, and any other special things you know about your pets that any caretaker should know.
Finally, step three is to consider whether you need to provide financial resources to care for your pets.
If your pet has any special needs, or if you want to provide funding for training, regular exercise, or a certain kind of food or care, it’s up to you to provide the financial resources to the people you’ve named to take care of your pets. All of this can be included as part of your comprehensive estate plan.
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