Remember the 2007 $12 million dollar trust created by Leona Helmsley at her death for her beloved Maltese dog, aptly named Trouble? Well now you can legally set up trusts to assist future caretakers for the expenses of your pet's care after your passing. The governor officially signed the law under Minn. Statute 501C.0408. Previously clients could only gift money to an individual, or an institution such as the U of M for their pet's care, in hope that the caretaker really would use the funds to care for their feathered or furry angels. The new law provides that a Pet Trust may be established with your funds in order to provide for the care of an animal which had been in the grantor's care during the deceased grantor's lifetime. The measuring life of "alive during the grantor's life" seems to count out any offspring of your pet. Similar to trusts for humans (in particular, minor children and/or vulnerable adults spring to mind), special consideration should be given to whether you wish to make the caretaker and the trustee one individual, or to split the duties between two individuals. Separating the financial duties of a trustee from the caretaking duties into two separate individuals may provide some "check and balance" to ensure that trust funds are actually spent for the animal's care. Snicker if you will, consider the abuse cases of horses for instance, who require high levels of care, and oftentimes a lot of money for that care, during their approximate 27 year lifespan, or birds with an 80 year life span. If a trustee is using funds for items other than the animal's care, any person having an "interest in the welfare of the animal" may request the court to appoint a person to enforce the trust or to remove an appointed trustee. Unexpended funds will go to beneficiaries listed by the decedent's trust. For this reason, reasonable compensation should be outlined in the document for any trustee and/or caretaker, if the trustee/caretaker will not ultimately receive the balance of the trust. If there is no provision for this residue, the assets will go to the decedent's statutory heirs at law. One never knows, you may want to get to know your loved ones' pets during the next holiday visit, in case you could be an ultimate heir.
