If you die, who takes care of Fido?

By MarketWatch

Some of us need more looking after than others. Take Shelley, for example. The black standard poodle gets acupuncture every other week to treat her arthritis.

She is also named, along with another dog and three cats, to benefit from a $10,000 trust fund if her owners die before she does.

"Our pets are an extremely important part of our lives. It's critical that our pets will be well cared for. (Our) children are all self-sufficient adults who will be provided for in other ways," said Joan Bortnick-Wimbish, Shelley's owner.

Bortnick-Wimbish, a former personal shopper at Bloomingdale's, is in her early 70s. The Virginia Beach, Va., woman established the trust for her pets this year -- she was already updating a will -- in a process that took about two weeks.

She feels secure knowing that if any of her animals need medical attention, the trust will be there, even when she and her husband are not.

"Veterinary expenses are very high," Bortnick-Wimbish said. "If something were to happen to us jointly, we have people who we know would take care of our animals."

Bortnick-Wimbish is one of a growing number of pet owners who are looking to ensure that their animal companions will be secure after the end of their journey together.

About 63%, or 71.1 million, of U.S. households have pets, according to a survey from the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association.

As many as 25% of families with a pet have provided for their animals through wills or trusts, said Sara Amundson, the executive director with the Humane Society Legislative Fund. "People really consider pets as members of their family," she said.

Each year, 2 million to 4 million pets are euthanized, some because they lost their homes when their guardians died. Pet owners have a responsibility to make sure that their furry friends don't end up in a shelter and become "a burden on the municipality," Amundson said.

Trusts are a 'baby sitter's note'

Pet trusts began to gain steam in the early 1990s, and now 39 states and the District of Columbia have come to recognize them, according to Amundson. There is also proposed legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to amend the Internal Revenue Code to treat charitable remainder pet trusts like similar trusts for people.

Rachel Hirschfeld, an attorney specializing in pet trusts and practicing in New York state, said she gets 10 calls about pet trusts for each one that she received five years ago. In the past few years, she's worked on dozens of pet trusts.

It's important to plan ahead for the health of your pet, Hirschfeld said, and suggested providing for conditions at least six months in the future. "This is like a baby-sitter's note. You plot every detail in it, and you leave instructions as to how you want things done," Hirschfeld said.

Pet trusts enable owners to leave money earmarked for the care of their animals and specify how they want pets to be treated. In comparison, wills are used for disbursing assets, but instructions about treatment are not enforceable.

Continued: Find a suitable trustee

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