Comparing the FurEver CareTM Life & Estate Management
Plan to Other Options for the Continued Care of Your Pets
The following table provides a side-by-side comparison of the statutory
pet trust (i.e., leaving funds for the care of your pet in your Will), most
pet protection contracts, and the FurEver CareTM Life & Estate
Management Plan - based on the legal protections and practical
provisions commonly associated with each option.
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Statutory
Pet Trust
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Pet Protection Contract
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FurEver CareTM
Pet Trust
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May be used to leave funds for the care of your pet upon your death
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√
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√
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√
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May be used to fund the care of your pet while you are living (during emergencies, etc.)(see Note 1)
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√
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√
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Automatic mandatory oversight of Pet Caregiver to ensure that your pet is care for
according to your instructions
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√
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Automatic mandatory accounting & reporting to ensure that your funds are being used properly
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√
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Automatic protection of your funds from Pet Caregiver’s creditors
(see Note 2)
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√
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Avoids probate so that your pet continues to be cared for while your estate is being settled
(see Note 3)
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√
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Privacy, increased protection against contest & from having pet care funds reduced and
redistributed by the court (see Note 4)
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√
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Note 1: Most pet protection contracts and (traditional revocable living) Pet Trusts only address
pet care after the Pet Owner's death, but both types of instruments can be written to cover pet
care while the Pet Owner is still living (during emergencies, etc.). However, unlike a Pet Trust
which is normally funded (at least partially) while the Pet Owner is still living, most pet protection
contracts are usually only funded by monies left in the Pet Owner’s Will. Therefore, if you were
going to use a pet protection contract to cover pet care while you are still living, then you would
need to fund that contract (at least partially) from an alternate source.
Note 2: Any funds that you would leave for a statutory pet trust or a pet protection contract could,
after they had been disbursed to your Pet Caregiver, be vulnerable to his/her creditors. If your Pet
Caregiver experiences an economic setback sending him/her into default on any unsecured debts,
those creditors could seize the funds that you had left for the care of your pet! However, any funds
left in a (traditional) Pet Trust, such as in the FurEver CareTM plan, would be protected – immune
from those creditors. It should be noted that Trust funds are not immune to your creditors during
your lifetime (while the Trust may still be revoked). In some circumstances, Trust funds may also
be vulnerable to your creditors for a period of time after your death – often depending on the nature
of those assets, but the potential for that to occur can be greatly minimized and in many cases,
completely eliminated, by wise financial planning during your lifetime (e.g., limiting unsecured debt,
obtaining long-term care insurance, making provisions for final expenses, etc.). Naming the Trustee
of your Pet Trust as the beneficiary to a life insurance policy or a TOD/POD account is another
recommended strategy, since the proceeds would be payable to the Trustee outright upon your death,
outside of your Will and completely bypassing the probate process.
Note 3: Any funds that you may leave upon your death for the continued care of your pet (whether
outright in your Will, earmarked for a pet protection contract or in a Trust) will be included and
counted as part of your estate. However, there are some types of property that pass “outside” of the
Will, avoiding probate. Funds left for a statutory pet trust (in your Will) or earmarked for a pet
protection contract are subject to probate, but funds left in a Pet Trust are not. Therefore, funds left
for the care of your pet in the FurEver CareTM Pet Trust are NOT subject to probate – meaning the
funds are NOT tied up while your estate is being settled; they remain available for the continued care
of your pet.
Note 4: A Will is a public document, subject to examination by any interested party, but a Trust is
not. A Trust is a private document, not subject to public examination, although it may, under some
circumstances, be released for review to those who may have a legal claim to a portion of the estate
(e.g., heirs or creditors). Therefore, the privacy afforded by a (traditional) Pet Trust makes it an
ideal choice for individuals who may prefer to limit disclosure of their information to others. Any
funds left in a Will, whether by exercising the statutory pet trust or by leaving the funds earmarked
for a pet protection contract, are vulnerable to contest by heirs. If the heirs are successful in
contesting the Will, the funds that the Pet Owner had left for the care of his/her pets may be reduced
by the court and redistributed in a manner inconsistent with the Pet Owner’s wishes – leaving the pet
without the quality of care that the Owner had intended and in extreme cases, possibly even resulting
in the pet ending up in a shelter. While the same arguments that can be used to contest a Will can be
used to contest a (traditional) Pet Trust, there is increased protection with a Trust, provided the
amount of funds being held in trust is not so large that it appears to be totally unreasonable (i.e., far
exceeding the amount required to fulfill the terms of the Trust, even given the most liberal
interpretation). Furthermore, the Pet Owner's repeated personal involvement as initial Trustee of the
Pet Trust greatly increases the perception of validity, thereby helping to insulate the Trust from
potential challenges that the Pet Owner was mentally incapacitated and/or did not know what he/she
was doing, etc., when he/she executed the Trust.
Want to find out if the
FurEver CareTM Life & Estate Management Plan
is the right choice for you?
click here.
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