A pet owner who would go to the trouble to make a Trust to take care of her pets really loves those pets, is a responsible person and considers her pets to be family.

The only way to guarantee the care of your pets after your death is to do the proper planning. Typical estate documents used to help protect your pets (as well as your human loved ones!) are:

Will

Pet Care Loving Trust

Pet Care Power of Attorney

Instructions to the Pet Guardian

The purpose of the Pet Trust and Plan is to assure that your pet will have wonderful and loving new guardians who will responsibly use the trust money to pay for things that the pet needs such as:

food;

supplies (beds, blankets, toys, etc.);

vetinary care;

kennel, hotel and/or paid petsitters while the new guardians are on vacation;

dog walkers, if necessary on a regular basis;

a fenced in yard (or electric fence) for a dog.

Also, it is very important that you name the person or people who will get custody of the pets.You want a first and second choice of new guardian. The new guardians would need legal permission to make all decisions regarding the pet-some vets may require this in writing. This planning will prevent the big fear of any loving pet owner is that if no one will take the pets and give them a good home, the pets will be taken to a shelter and possibly euthanized or fail to thrive.

As an example, when one set of clients were last in Costa Rica, they observed:

"An old German Shepard was brought to an animal shelter.  His owner was a sick, elderly lady confined to a wheel chair. Her sister wanted to get rid of the dog so left him at the shelter. The sick owner called crying and said she wanted her dog back but couldn't walk and had no transportation to the shelter. The poor old dog was in the process of pining to death for its owner. He wouldn't eat, drink or move. The  shelter was supportive of the dog and his owner.    There is a happy ending to this story as one of the receptionists WALKED the dog back to his owner's home where, as far as I know, they are both still happily together."

A good Pet Loving Trust and plan can protect you and your pet