PETS AND ESTATE PLANNING

If you have pets, there is good reason to be concerned about what happens to them after you pass away. For some of us, our pets are like family. Many times after an owner dies, the personal representative and/or heirs will surrender the pets to a local animal shelter. Sadly, many of our pets are not able to find new ‘forever’ homes.

So what can you do to ensure your pets are cared for?

Select Care Takers

Start by determining who will care for your pet if something happens to you. This could be a spouse, a child, another relative or a friend. Discuss your wishes with your chosen caretaker. Make certain they agree to assume responsibility for your pet. If no one in your life fits the bill, consider a local or national charitable or humane organization.

Determine the Yearly Cost to maintain and care for your Pet(s)

Include language in your Last Will and Testament

Again, you cannot use your will to leave money or property to your pet. If you try, that money or property will be included in your residuary estate,

In addition to providing the name and address of a trustee and successor trustee, a caregiver and successor caregiver (all of whom can be corporations and/or individuals) you will be asked to provide enough information to:

• Adequately identify your pets in order to prevent fraud, such as through photos, microchips, DNA samples, or alternatively, by describing your pet as a “class”—in other words, as “the pet(s) owned by you at the time of your illness/death;

• Describe in detail your pet’s standard of living and care;

• Require regular inspections of your pet(s) by the trustee;

• Determine the amount of funds needed to adequately cover the expenses for your pet’s care (generally, this amount cannot exceed what may reasonably be required given your pet’s standard of living) and specify how the funds should be distributed to the caregiver;

• Determine the amount of funds needed to adequately cover the expenses of administering the pet trust;

• Designate a remainder beneficiary in the event the funds in the pet trust are not exhausted;

• Provide instructions for the final disposition of your pet (for example, via burial or cremation).

Have questions or concerns about your estate planning? Contact us to discuss further:

E.M. Curran Legal LLC

10 Tower Office Park
Suite 314
Woburn, MA 01801
Phone: 781-933-1542
Fax: 781-933-1549

COMMON REASONS TO UPDATE YOUR WILL

A valid will can fulfill several purposes. A will directs the distribution of the signer's probate estate after the signer's death. It nominates fiduciaries, provides the fiduciary with the authority they need to act and it disposes of probate assets. The will nominates a Personal Representative who will guide the estate through the probate process.  

Drafting a Last Will and Testament is not an enjoyable task for many of us. Once we draft a will, we tuck it away some where safe and forget about it. That’s not advisable. There are many reasons for you to pull out that Will and review it every three to five years.

Here are just a few reasons for you to make updates to what you once thought was ‘perfect.’

• You had children and they are not listed in the existing will.

• You need to name a guardian for your minor children or maybe you want to change the person you selected.

• You got married.

• You had minor children when you drafted the existing will and now they are grown with their own children.

• Your assets greatly decreased.

• The people you named in the will as beneficiaries are deceased.

• You got divorced.

• If you moved to a new state you need to make sure your will confirms with the requirements of your new state. Each state has its own legal requirements for drafting and executing a Last Will and Testament.

• Your assets greatly increased.

• Your spouse predeceases you.

• You want different people to fulfill the roles necessary… personal representative, guardian, etc.

 Never try to change a will by writing in the margins, crossing out words, lines, or sections of the original will. This only invites confusion, and is likely to lead to drawn-out conflicts over your will. Always seek out the advice of a local attorney. Sometimes you can just add a codicil to your Last Will and Testament. A codicil is a separate document that adds to or replaces one or more provisions in an existing will while leaving the rest of the will untouched and valid.

Have questions or concerns about your estate planning? Contact us to discuss further:

E.M. Curran & Associates LLC

10 Tower Office Park
Suite 406
Woburn, MA 01801
Phone: 781-933-1542
Fax: 781-933-1549