2020 Trust & Estate Planning for Pets

Providing for the care of pets is, for some clients, their most urgent estate and trust priority.  These clients want to ensure that, after their own deaths, their pets are looked after in a safe and secure environment.  But the law is unclear in this area – there are few familiar planning patterns to follow in this area.The challenge for the planner is to create new structures to achieve these goals, including choosing standards for caregivers and trustees, drafting distribution provisions, and providing for the disposition of the remains of pets.This program will provide you with a practical guide to the estate and trust planning for pets and other animals, including drafting trusts, fiduciary standards, and distribution provisions.

• Legal and practical framework for estate and trust planning for pets and other animals
• Traditional trusts v. statutory trusts – advantages and disadvantages of each
• Drafting standards for caregivers and trustees, and understanding the relationship between the two
• Distributions to caregivers for the pet and for themselves
• Designation of remainder beneficiary or trust, terminating the trust, and final disposition of pets or other animals

Note: This material qualifies for self-study credit only. Pursuant to Regulation 15.04.5, a lawyer may receive up to six hours of self-study credit in a reporting year. Self-study programs do not qualify for GAL Certification, ethics, elimination of bias or Kansas credit.