It is important to provide for your pets in your will. In legal terms, clinical though it may sound, animals are considered to be ‘personal possessions’, i.e. assets that belong to the person making the will, and they can be given away in the same way as a piece of jewellery or a house.
The first thing to consider is identifying your pets clearly in your Will, particularly if you are also making a monetary gift to support their maintenance in the future. A testator should give some thought to whether the gift only covers the pets that they own at present, or whether it should be extended to include all pets that they may own at their date of the death. Unless the animals are very unusual and require specialist care, I favour that approach, because it future-proofs the Will. If there are multiple pets, should they each pass to the same person, or does separate provision need to be made for each one? If it is one particular pet only that you have in mind, it should be identified clearly by its name and species. However, this does mean that if you no longer have that particular animal at your date of death, the gift will fail, even if you have a new pet by then.
It is important to give careful thought to who would be most suitable to take on the care of your pets. A relative or friend is often appropriate, although it is worth checking with them first. However, if you have more unusual animals then you will be looking for somebody with a specialist knowledge, or perhaps an exotic hobbyist. The best choice of new owner will very much depend on the type of pets you own and the complexity of their needs. The life expectancy of your pet should also be considered when you are choosing a recipient. A pet such as an African Grey Parrot, which has a life expectancy of up to 80 years, should ideally pass to a relatively young new owner, to save the animal the stress of having successive new owners over time. (Please see Dick King Smith’s wonderful book, “Harry’s Mad”, about a boy who inherits a highly intelligent African Grey from an elderly relative, for background reading on this subject!)
If you do not feel that there is anyone suitable to take care of your pets, or who would be willing to do so, leaving your pets to an animal charity is another possibility. One way to do this is by making a gift of the pet to an animal charity, with a request that they rehome them. This request could be made either with or without a donation to the charity, although donations are of course always very welcome. There are various animal charities which have special schemes for rehoming the pets of people who have died, but this is usually something that you need to explore with the charity and sign up to during your lifetime, before including the appropriate wording in your will. The best known of these schemes are the RSPCA’s “Home for Life” scheme and The Dogs Trust’s “Canine Care Card”.
An important part of leaving a legacy of your pets to someone in your will is ensuring that the person receiving them will have the resources to maintain your pets in the future. This will facilitate them carrying out out your wishes in looking after your pets. Pets can be a significant financial burden, so you may well wish to make a monetary gift to the recipient of an animal in your Will at the same time, usually on the condition that they look after your pet for the rest of its life. This is not enforceable, but at least the acceptance of the legacy confers a moral obligation. Your chosen amount should take into account the animal’s likely life expectancy, feeding costs, expected vet bills, and insurance costs. It’s reasonable to assume that these costs will increase as the animal ages, so that should also be factored in. The average lifespan of a cat is 15 to 17 years, with an approximate yearly cost of around £1,200, whereas the lifespan of a typical horse is 25 to 33 years, with an approximate yearly cost of up to £10,000. If you leave a monetary legacy to the recipient of your pets in your Will then it is important to keep it under review over time, as costs will inevitably increase. One way to avoid the need to do that is by providing for the gift to be index-linked instead of simply including a fixed amount.
If a testator is uncertain about whom they should leave their animals to, one approach is to give all of the animals you own at your date of death to your executors, and to express a wish that they make arrangements for them. You would then write a separate letter of wishes giving guidance to your executors on the animals’ care needs, vaccination records, vets, medication and your preferred choice of new owner. This allows the executors to use their own discretion to decide on what to do for the best, in all of the circumstances at the time. Your letter of wishes can then readily be updated, without the need to update your will, and the obligation will remain on your executors to find suitable homes for your pets. Your executors may want to consider approaching family members or friends who might be prepared to look after your pets, selling them privately, or perhaps passing them to an animal charity for rehoming.
Finally, there is the very unusual option of creating a ‘purpose trust for animals’. This is designed for somebody who actually wishes to leave their estate to their animals. As pets do not have legal personality, it is not possible to leave them anything personally, so instead, you could set up a trust for maintaining your animals, for their benefit, for a maximum of 21 years. This option is unlikely to be appropriate for much longer lived animals than cats and dogs, however. There must also be a gift to an ultimate capital beneficiary (usually human!) at the end of the 21 year period.
Chiltern Wills is a Will writing business based in Beaconsfield and run by former London solicitor, Rebecca D’Arcy. Call us on 01494 708688 or emaill info@chilternwills.com for a free initial discussion about how we can help you with Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney or probate work.