My pets are my children - how can I look after them in my Will?

I notice that often when clients want to talk about looking after their pets in their Wills, they start off by saying, "I know this sounds kind of silly but I want to do something in my Will about my pet." I don't think it's silly at all, since those of us with pets feel true affection for them as well as a responsibility to ensure they will not be abandoned should we pass away. This kind of request is very common.

Generally a pet owner's foremost concern is finding a good home for the animal. The second concern is making sure there is enough money to look after the animal, particularly if it is a large animal like a horse.

There are two general approaches to this situation. Both involve choosing a person you trust and providing that person with some money to look after the pet.

In the most common scenario, you would, in your Will, give your pet to a specific person. You would also give that person a sum of money if they receive your pet. If the pet dies before you do, or the person refuses to take the animal, then the person does not get the money. You would leave instructions that the money is to be used for veterinary bills, food, shots, shelter etc. Many pet owners like to include an instruction that the animal not be euthanized unless medically necessary.

The sum of money does not increase if the animal lives longer. It is a one-time payment. The person who receives the money doesn't have to account to anyone for how the money is spent.

The second approach involves giving the pet to a trusted person in the Will, and then setting up a trust. The trust would not take effect until you have passed away as it is created by your Will. Note that this does not mean that you set up a trust for a pet, because that is not legally possible in Canada. You are setting up what is known as a purpose trust. This means it is a trust set up for a specific purpose, i.e. looking after your pet.

When you set up a trust, the money you have specified is not given directly in a lump sum to the person who receives your pet. It is held in a trust by your executor and money is given out to the person who receives your pet on an as-needed basis. Normally the trust would be in place for the lifetime of the animal. When the animal passes away, any money left over would be paid to a beneficairy. Many pet owners will name an animal shelter as the beneficiary.

One of the main reasons that purpose trusts for pets are not used very often is that the sum of money set aside is not usually very large. There are costs associated with setting up and maintaining trusts, which might quickly deplete a small sum of money.

If you have a pet - or several - that you want to look after in the event of your death, talk to your estate planning lawyer to see which solution might be right for you.