What Does a Pet Trust Cost To Prepare?
How much should I expect to pay for a pet trust?
This is one of the two most popular questions that I am asked by pet owners.
Obviously, many factors are going to enter into the analysis and preparation of a trust for your pets.
In the last two weeks alone, I have seen pet trust fees placed as low as $29.99 and has high as $10,000.00.
Quite a range.
I can only advise that you speak with a professional that has experience in this area and that it is someone that you are comfortable working with, on behalf of your pets.
Treat this like the important decision that it is.
What Is A Pet Panel?
I recently gave a seminar about pet trusts to a group of veterinarians and the use of a Pet Panel was one of the main interests of the attendees.
I have written before on the pet panel and maybe now is good time to review the process. A pet panel is a group of individuals appointed by you, in your Trust and they have various duties as you and your counsel shall provide.
Some example of duties as established for a pet panel, as are follows:
Work with the Pet Trustee to select an appropriate Pet Guardian for each pet;
Make the final decision on accepting or rejecting the choice for Pet Guardian;
Review the Pet Trustee’s performance;
Authorize financial bonuses for the Pet Guardian pursuant to the Trust;
Assist the Pet Trustee and Pet Guardian with major medical decisions affecting the health and lives of the pets;
Select a new successor Pet Trustee to replace the then serving Pet Trustee if there are no other Pet Trustees named or if there are none that are willing or able to serve;
Make occasional, unannounced, in-home visits to monitor the care of the pets;
Assist with end-of-life decisions for the pets, including euthanasia, based on the pets' quality of life, pain and suffering, and chances of meaningful recovery.
The pet panel can have as much or as little powers a your determine.
Your counsel can assist you with a Pet Panel when you complete your estate planning for your pets.
Pet Trust Dispute Lands In Georgia Court Room
Very few pet trusts have found their way into the court system.
This case could proved to be an interesting test of the validity of pet trust:
A fifty -three year old, terminally ill, woman set up a $1 million trust fund to care for her cats and dogs when she was gone.
When the deceased’s will was probated, a Georgia Probate Judge held that she was "unduly influenced" by a lawyer who made his girlfriend the largest beneficiary of the estate.
The will set up the million dollar trust fund to provide for the animals, however, it also bequeathed a home and seven acres of land to the lawyer's girlfriend.
The girlfriend was also to be paid $50,000 a year, plus additional fees, for taking care of the 50 cats and six dogs that were alive at the time of the owners death.
You will not be surprised to learn that the family of the owner of the pets who set up the trust, are challenging the validity of the will.
Stay tuned.
