Including Your Pet in Your Estate Planning Trust
By Laura J. Martin, Esq.
A trust may be used to provide for and protect your pet during your lifetime, preserve your own continuing relationship with your pet, transfer ownership of your pet upon your death, or maintain your pet with a designated beneficiary or caregiver throughout your pet’s remaining lifetime.
A trust is a legal relationship created by agreement between the settlor (the person creating the trust) and the trustee. The trustee manages and distributes trust property for the benefit of trust beneficiaries or to fulfill a trust purpose according to the terms of the trust agreement. The benefits of using a trust to plan, provide for, and protect pets include avoiding probate, designating successor pet beneficiaries and caregivers, financial management of money left for pets, and the opportunity to exert post-death control over your pet’s welfare. For a complete list of these benefits, see the August 2025 OAA Animal Insider newsletter.
Traditional estate planning trusts are routinely used to avoid probate, provide for family members, protect assets, and more. A traditional estate planning trust is different than a Pet Trust. In a traditional trust, an animal is maintained for the benefit of a human beneficiary. A Pet Trust is used to care for and maintain an animal for its own benefit. Although a traditional estate planning trust is not the most protective planning option for pets, it can be a good or even great planning option under the right circumstances.
If you already have a traditional estate planning trust or are thinking of creating one, it is relatively easy and often less expensive to add pet-specific terms to a traditional trust instead of creating a separate Pet Trust. The key to using traditional trusts to plan for pets and animals is to look for circumstances where there is a direct benefit to a human trust beneficiary. Of course, animals benefit indirectly from being cared for and maintained for the benefit of a person. A traditional trust can be a valuable Pet Planning tool for any of the following purposes:
(1) Probate avoidance (the most common use for traditional trusts) – your pet will be transferred directly to your chosen beneficiary following your death, without the delay or costs of going through probate.
(2) Keeping owners and pets together – a traditional trust can provide for any assistance you may need in the future to continue living with and caring for a pet or alternative pet-friendly living arrangements (condo, apartment, assisted living, etc.).
(3) Keeping kids and pets together following the death or other loss of parents – pets provide valuable companionship and stability during times of personal turmoil.
(4) Maintaining a service or emotional support animal for the benefit of a human trust beneficiary.
(5) Ensure availability of funds to pay future pet care expenses – this is especially crucial if the person you want to leave your animal to is a spendthrift, has very low income, or is experiencing creditor problems (or may in the future).
(6) Exchanging real estate for pet care – the beneficiary who cares for your pets may receive rent-free living accommodations in exchange for providing pet care and may even receive the deed to your home or farm after all animals have passed.
(7) Maintaining a valuable, income-producing, breeding, working, or competitive animal – a traditional trust is a better fit than a Pet Trust if people will benefit from the services, income, or sale of animals (note, a breeding animal can only be maintained in a traditional trust, not a Pet Trust).
(8) Operation, sale, or dissolution of an animal-related small business, which often involves the disbursement of animals owned by or used in the business.
(9) As a Pet Trust substitute under any other circumstances where an animal will be maintained for the benefit of a person rather than for its own benefit.
In the next newsletter article, we will examine the differences between traditional estate planning trusts and Pet Trusts more closely and find out exactly what makes Pet Trusts so ultra-protective for our furry and feathered (and scaled) family members.
This is the seventh article in the OAA Animal Insider newsletter continuing series about Pet Planning. Additional information about Pet Planning and the planning options available to you is included in the Introduction to “Pet Planning” for Animal Owners guide.
Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational purposes only and is not legal advice. For Pet Planning assistance, please consult with an experienced estate planning attorney.
