Pet Trusts Ensure Continued Care for Companion Animals

THURSDAY, 07 JULY 2011 19:16

BY GENE L. OSOFSKY, ESQ.

Special to the Times

Q: My two dogs are my constant companions and provide me a great deal of comfort,  but I worry about what might happen to them should something happen to me. Is there something I can do to provide for their care when I can no longer do so?

A: Yes there is, and you are not alone in expressing your concerns. Our furry companions provide great comfort to us, and it’s natural to want to ensure their continued welfare.

One technique is to create a Pet Trust. As its name implies, a Pet Trust is a trust created for the specific purpose of caring for companion animals. The essential elements are: the naming of a trustee to manage the money you place into the trust, a caretaker to take physical care of your pets, a non-profit backup to take the pets if your designated caretaker is not able to do so, and detailed instructions on how to care for your pets.  

Since January 2009, Pet Trusts have become enforceable in California in a court of law. And, most other states have similar laws.

The Pet Trust can be created in your will, but since the will is not effective until it is admitted to probate, which usually only occurs many weeks after death, it is better to create a pet trust during your lifetime. It can be created as either a stand-alone trust or as a separate part of your  Living Trust.

The Pet Trust should be funded with enough money to cover the continued care of your companions for the duration of their anticipated lifetimes, including items such as anticipated veterinary fees and reasonable fees to their caregiver.

The amount of funding need not necessarily be large: for smaller animals such as dogs and cats, a few thousand dollars may be sufficient, while more would likely be required for larger animals such as horses.

But your death is not the only concern. What if you became ill and can no longer care for your animal companions?

To address this concern, you may also wish to include suitable powers in your Durable Power Of Attorney authorizing your agent to take charge of your pets if you become incapacitated and either furnish pet care themselves or hire a suitable caregiver to do so at your expense.

Likewise, you should give your agent specific instructions to bring your pets to visit you if feasible even if you’re not living in your own home, so that you and your pets can maintain your bond.

Your estate planning attorney can assist you in creating a suitable Pet Trust as part of your estate plan. Taking this extra step to provide for your companion animals can bring you great peace of mind and the comfort of knowing they will be cared for when you can no longer do so yourself.

Gene L. Osofsky is an elder law and estate planning attorney in Hayward. For more information, visit his website at www.LawyerForSeniors.com.

Related:

Leona Helmsley’s Will to Give $1 Million to Dog Causes, Down from $12M

Plan Ahead For Your Pets’ Care… Like Oprah

Providing for Your Pet’s Future Without You

Using and Attorney is Often Best, Especially of You Are Talking Leona Helmsley or Oprah Money… For the Rest of Us Here Is A Great Book:   Order Your Copy Today:  Every Dog’s Legal Guide: A Must-have Book for Your Owner

Cross-Posted at Ask Marion

Lab crew indicted on animal cruelty charges

By RENEE ELDER  -  Associated Press  -  Posted: Thursday, Jul. 07, 2011

RALEIGH, N.C. Four former workers at a North Carolina testing lab have been indicted on felony animal cruelty charges, following an animal rights group’s undercover investigation that captured video images of animals being hit, kicked and thrown, officials said Wednesday.

Gates County District Attorney Frank Parrish said Christine Clement and Tracy Small were indicted on two counts each of cruelty to animals, while Jessica Detty and Mary Ramsey were each indicted on five counts of the same charge. Parrish said the grand jury handed down the indictments Tuesday.

In North Carolina, the sentence for a person with no previous criminal record could range from as little as three months of community service to 14 months in prison.

The charges follow the September 2010 release of a videotape provided by an undercover worker for the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Detty said Wednesday that she was not aware of the indictment, nor had she heard from the other three defendants in the case. She told The Associated Press that she wouldn’t mistreat animals.

"Wow. I don’t see myself as a type of person to ever do something like that and I would not ever," said Detty, who said she was a receptionist at the lab for a year and a half. "If I were to go to court, I would surely have a lawyer to defend me that I was not in the wrong," Detty said.

Messages left for the other three workers were not immediately returned Wednesday.

PETA lab investigator Kathy Guillermo called it a groundbreaking case for animal rights.

She said it is the first case she is aware of in which research lab workers have been charged with animal cruelty.

"There are unspeakable things happening to animals in labs every day, but when you also strike them, kick them or withhold health care, it’s animal cruelty,’ Guillermo said.

The video shot by a PETA member working at the lab shows workers throwing a cat, pulling a dog’s teeth with inadequate pain medication and trying to pull a cat’s claws off by jerking it from a wire cage.

Professional Laboratory and Research Services Inc. was closed in late 2010 after the USDA received PETA’s report and began to investigate the operation.

Guillermo said the lab was not affiliated with any specific company but would carry out testing for manufacturers of pet products, such as flea and tick medications.

More than 200 dogs and 50 cats were confiscated from the lab by the USDA following the investigation.

The lab’s owner, Helen Sonenshine, of Virginia, did not return a call from a reporter Wednesday.

Connie Detty, the mother of Jessica Detty, said her daughter was an animal lover who often brought rabbits home from the lab to keep them from being euthanized.

Gates County is on the North Carolina-Virginia line, about 114 miles northeast of Raleigh.

Associated Press writer Emery Dalesio contributed to this report.

Source:  Charlotte Observer