We all dearly love our pets, and so it can be troubling to wonder what might happen to them if we suddenly weren’t around. Understanding this predicament, states began to pass pet trust laws, beginning in the 1990s.
Forming an Albuquerque pet trust can give you peace of mind knowing that you have resources set aside for your pet’s care, along with detailed instructions to ensure they can enjoy a high quality of life. Like other trusts, a pet trust is a legally binding agreement.
The trust creator can assign someone to monitor their pet’s welfare and ensure the terms of the trust are being followed. If they aren’t, the pet’s caretaker could be replaced, or other changes could be made by court order, if necessary.
With these capabilities, pet trusts can provide peace of mind. You know that, no matter what, your pets can receive good care, even if you become incapacitated or your pets outlive you.
Working with an Albuquerque pet trust lawyer can help you understand how to best set up the trust to ensure that your pets live the kind of life you’d want for them.
Learn more about your options for creating a pet trust in Albuquerque when you book a confidential, no-obligation consultation at New Mexico Financial Law. Schedule your no-risk consultation today when you call 505-503-1637 or contact us online.
Pet trusts are a relatively new area of estate, probate, and trust law. They were created to give pets certain beneficiary rights, of which they had none before, and to give trust creators the opportunity to leave very detailed requirements for their pet’s care.
In the past, pet trusts consisted of a roundabout arrangement where the actual beneficiary was the animal’s caretaker. The trust motivated the caretaker to provide the expected level of care by staking their compensation on it.
If they failed to give the pet the quality of life that was expected, they would lose all rights to receive money from the trust. The problem with this arrangement was that it was difficult to enforce, and the pet itself lacked legal “recourse” if it wasn’t actually receiving the care it was supposed to.
Accordingly, pet trusts emerged as a solution for putting the focus on the well-being of the animal, rather than indirectly on a single caretaker. Pet owners can now dictate, with as much specificity as they want, how they expect their beloved animals to be cared for. Also, with real legal “teeth” behind their protection, surviving pets can now have many different people to advocate for their proper treatment.
The only challenge with this arrangement? Pet owners have the onus placed on them to tell others how they can make their fuzzy family members happy.
Caretakers only have as much responsibility as the pet trust places upon them. More importantly, they will probably never know the pet as well as its original owner, so caretakers must look to the pet trust’s instructions for guidance.
An Albuquerque pet trust attorney can help you get specific and detailed with your pet trust to ensure your pet gets to enjoy a high quality of life, hopefully into a ripe old age. With our help, you can arrange for an overseer to ensure that your high standards are being met.
In addition, we can help you anticipate everything that is needed for the trust to function as planned. Some of the most important factors we’ll help you consider include:
When carefully crafted, a pet trust can fit neatly within your other estate plans, including a living will, your last will and testament, and any other trusts or legal arrangements you create. With the right foresight, you can ensure that not only will your pet be cared for, but that any remaining trust funds can be used to further your legacy as an animal lover and a supportive family member.
To better understand how pet trusts work, it first helps to explain how an Albuquerque trust works. Generally:
Pet trusts can differ greatly depending on the state where one is formed. Looking specifically at New Mexico, its pet trust laws closely follow those of other states that use the Uniform Probate Code (see NM Stat § 46A-4-408):
Importantly, a pet trust can be created during your life in case you are ever medically incapacitated or otherwise unable to care for your pet. It could also be created as a testamentary trust, in case you pass on while a pet is still surviving.
One rather unique aspect of pet trusts is that the law goes out of its way to recognize that pets, as non-human beneficiaries, should not be permitted to retain any more financial resources than are necessary for their care. This provision likely comes out of situations where a family member leaves a substantial portion of their wealth to an animal companion, directly at the expense of other likely heirs.
A particular case concerns the late Mrs. Leona Helmsley, a wealthy hotel industrialist who left her dog (aptly named “Trouble”) $12 million for her care and comfort. Mrs. Helmsley conspicuously left two of her grandchildren entirely out of her will.
Objecting to the arrangement, the grandchildren sued the estate and demanded to receive some form of compensation, as they protested that the amount given to the dog was much more than it ever could have needed in one lifetime. The court agreed, reducing the trust’s value by $10 million, which was awarded to Helmsley’s family members.
It is likely because of scenarios like these that New Mexico’s pet trust statute includes the following language:
Property of a trust authorized by this [statute] may be applied only to its intended use, except to the extent the court determines that the value of the trust property exceeds the amount required for the intended use. Except as otherwise provided in the terms of the trust, property not required for the intended use must be distributed to the settlor, if then living, otherwise to the settlor’s successors in interest.
In other words, someone may be able to file a successful complaint to a court if the resources dedicated to the surviving animal could be seen as excessive. If the court agrees, it will reduce the value of the trust to an appropriate amount and distribute the excess to the grantor’s beneficiaries or other next-of-kin.
At the same time, the grantor should recognize that care costs may increase, such as if the animal develops a condition that is difficult to treat. The animal may also live much longer than expected.
Accordingly, the grantor should include a “cushion” of resources to ensure that the trust does not suddenly run out of funds.
The grantor can also fund the trust partially with assets that generate income, such as bonds, dividend stocks, or properties that generate rent. If the trust is able to create its own income, it can sustain the pet’s care and also potentially leave a residuary for the final beneficiaries.
The grantor must at very least designate a trustee to manage the pet trust. In cases where they failed to do so — or when all trustees they name are unable to serve — the court can assign a trustee.
The grantor should also select a caretaker, whether that is the trustee, an individual familiar with the pet, or a company that provides specialized care. The trustee is responsible for ensuring that the caretaker is appropriately compensated for their services and reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses they contribute to the animal’s care.
The grantor can specify whether the trustee is to disburse funds directly to a goods or services provider for each expense, such as vet care, or if they can instead pay the caretaker directly with the needed amount.
Finally, the grantor can also appoint a trust protector to monitor the trustee and/or the caregiver. The trust protector has a higher degree of oversight and would be able to remove any interested party if they prove incapable of upholding the trust’s instructions.
Also, as stated above in the statutory language description, any “person having an interest in the welfare of the animal” can also speak up to have a court order oversight or the removal of a person who is unsatisfactorily performing their role.
An important duty for the grantor of a pet trust is to describe exactly what is needed to keep their pet healthy and happy, according to their experiences together. Put another way: mother/father knows best, so pet owners should take the time to think carefully about what they do for their pet that contributes to its quality of life.
Examples of things to instruct or request in a pet trust’s guidelines include:
As the Massachusetts Veterinary Medical Association puts it:
“The directions left in a trust can, and should, be very specific. If your cat only likes a particular brand of food, your dog looks forward to daily romps in the park or if your pet should visit the veterinarian three times a year, you can specify this in a trust agreement.
“Since pet owners know the particular habits of their animals better than anyone else, they can describe the kind of care their pets should have and provide a list of the person(s) who would be willing to provide that care.”
There comes a point in every pet’s life where it is no longer able to enjoy itself the way it once did. This decline in quality of life could stem from a chronic condition, immobility, decreased organ performance, advanced age, or a variety of other factors.
As a pet owner, the last thing you would want to happen is for your pet to suffer pain and indignity. Accordingly, your instructions for your pet’s care should also include how you would want to see them cared for once they reach well past their prime.
Keep in mind that your pet’s caretaker may have to make extremely tough decisions, just as you would in their shoes if you were around to care for your pet. To make their decisions easier, help them choose what types of procedures or medicines you would want to prolong your pet’s life.
You can specify specific palliative care remedies you would like them to receive, for example, such as heated beds or the use of certain therapeutic drugs like gabapentin. And, if things seem unlikely to improve, provide criteria for when you would want to have the animal put down rather than have it suffer.
While it is unpleasant to consider these matters, think of it as a duty to share your wisdom and familiarity with what your pet would want, even after you die or become incapacitated. Your pet, like you, deserves a noble end and a peaceful passing, together with any life-prolonging measures that would ultimately be in their best interest.
New Mexico Financial Law wants to help you feel assured that your pets will continue to be loved, cherished, and well cared for, even after you are no longer around to spend time with them.
Get started forming your own pet trust — and leaving behind a happy life for your beloved companions — when you call us at 505-503-1637 or contact us online to schedule a no-obligation case review.
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