20 Benefits of Preparing a Pet Trust for Your Pet

There are many reasons or benefits for using a Pet Trust to protect your pet’s future. It is the best way to care for your pets and enable them to continue living the lifestyle they are accustomed to. Pet Trusts give your pets comfort and ease their stress when adjusting to life without you. Some of the benefits of choosing to use a Pet Trust include:

1. Peace of mind, which is priceless. You’ll rest easy with a plan in place. You know if you become sick, disabled, incapacitated, or die, your pets will be protected and cared for.
2. The “What if?” questions no longer plague your mind. You have a permanent answer to keep your pet loved and protected for the rest of their life.
3. A Pet Trust can be enacted more than once during your lifetime, and again when you die. (Providing care for your pet in your Will can only be provided after your death.)
4. Time is of the essence. Trusts do not go through Probate, so there is no waiting period. Your dog or cat will be cared for as soon as the need arises. Rehoming is immediate.
5. Life in a shelter or being euthanized is not an option for your pet because a Pet Trust designates successor Caretakers. If the list is exhausted, legal intervention occurs, and a Caretaker will be appointed by the Courts.
6. More than one person takes care of your pet. This “Care Team” supports one another and provides an innate system of oversight to help ensure your pet is receiving the care you outlined in the Pet Trust.
7. Your pets are rehomed, where they will be surrounded by familiarity because the Caretakers have agreed to follow the guidelines of the Pet Trust. This helps your pet adjust to living without you. Knowing the sights, smells, routines, and people keeps your pet calm and open to being loved by new Caretakers.
8. Your money is deposited into a Trust account and can only be spent on the care of your pet because it is managed by a Trustee, not the Caretaker. This helps ensure the Caretaker does not make frivolous purchases or buy items for themself.
9. Your pet’s lifestyle can be maintained for the rest of their life, despite your absence. The list of products and services, contact information for people involved with your pet’s care, detailed instructions that explain how to take care of your pet, and court support enable future Caregivers to provide all the nuances of “home.”
10. There are designated successors named for Trustee and Caretaker while you are alive and after your death. These alternate “contingency” plans help ensure continuous care for your pet, which will keep your dog or cat out of the shelter system.
11. Your Pet Trust can be legally enforced. If the Trustee or Caretaker is not caring for your pet properly, the legal system can intervene and remove them from their position and/or remove the pet from the home. At no time should your pet be left without a loving Caretaker in a loving home.
12. No one has to feel pressured into taking your pets, especially if it would be a financial burden for them. These decisions are made long in advance of their need, and the designees have usually agreed to take the position, as needed.
13. Older or infirmed pets will always have a loving home regardless of their condition or side effects like accidents in the house. They won’t be euthanized because of their age or illness. Instead, these pets will remain in a home with the love and care they deserve.
14. There is no financial burden or out-of-pocket payments by the Caretaker because all pet care expenses are paid from the Trust funds, as long as the purchase follows the guidelines of the Pet Trust and the changing needs of the dog or cat.
15. The Pet Trust funds should be plentiful enough to cover all pet care expenses with additional “buffer” funds for emergencies or possible litigation. Funds for the pet’s care should last the pet’s entire life, especially if a budget was prepared.
16. The Caretaker usually earns a monthly stipend in appreciation for giving your pet a loving home and following your instructions. The stipend can be spent by the Caretaker, however they wish. It is not meant to be used for pet care.
17. If you choose to add a Foster to your Care Team, there will be another person to love and care for your pet. The Foster usually provides short-term care and is available to pet-sit, if needed. This keeps the people in contact with the dog or cat steady and reliable, and nurtures familiarity, which is comforting.
18. Preparing a Pet Trust demonstrates that a lot of time and thought went into planning for your pet’s future. That means it wasn’t prepared on a whim. If litigated against by family or friends, the age of the document becomes important.
19. Maintaining planning notes and a written budget can help substantiate the pet owner’s decision to prepare a Pet Trust. If family or friends claim undue influence, or insanity, the planning materials demonstrate that the pet owner participated in a long, thoughtful, and independent process to prepare a Pet Trust with their attorney.
20. Pet Trusts provide a loving home for your dog or cat. They also open up the opportunity for people who cannot afford to own a dog or cat to have a pet without the expenses of pet ownership. This is a wonderful gift for both your pet and the designated Caretaker.

These benefits demonstrate that using a Pet Trust is advantageous to you, your pet, and anyone involved in your pet’s care. By establishing the Pet Trust now, you ensure the details of your pet’s care are clearly spelled out. Most of all, you keep your pet safe and loved by people who should provide care the way you want, with products, routines, and services that are familiar to your pet. There is no better way to keep your dog or cat safe, loved, and able to live the lifestyle you have provided, even in your absence.