This past weekend Wayside Waifs held one of its most successful ‘Adoptathon’ events of all time, with more than 203 animals being adopted Friday and Saturday. Van Osdol’s own, Eric Worster, joined in the fun about two weeks prior to the ‘Adoptathon’ when his family brought home their own rescue, Craig. Craig has been acclimating to his new surroundings over the last couple of weeks and has quickly become a full-fledged member of the family. Eric’s family, like many of the folks who adopted animals at the ‘Adoptathon’, truly see their pup as another one of their family members. As family members, these animals deserve the care and thought we put in to planning for what happens to our human family members if we are suddenly unable to care for them. Enter the Pet Trust. Missouri and Kansas both allow for the creation of trusts for the care of animals under their own respective versions of the Uniform Trust Code.
These trusts may be created to provide care for an animal (or more than one animal) that is alive during the settlor’s lifetime. These trusts terminate upon the death of the animal (or the last surviving animal). The settlor of these trusts may appoint a person to have the power to enforce the terms of the trust, or a court will appoint a person to enforce the terms of the trust if the settlor fails to appoint such a person. The property of the trust may be applied only for its intended use, the care of the animal, except that a court may determine that the value of the trust property exceeds the amount required for the care of the animal. Any excess trust property not required for the care of the animal, as determined by a court, may be distributed to the settlor, if living, otherwise to the settlor’s successors in interest.
The estate planning attorneys at Van Osdol would love to discuss your options in regards to establishing a trust for the care of your beloved pets.
(Eric assists clients with business formation, choice of entity decisions, contract review and real estate transactions while further structuring estate plans for clients. He truly values the opportunity to serve as a trusted advisor and counselor for his clients and prides himself on his ability to communicate effectively with his clients.)
