Do you have pets? If you do, I bet you are crazy about them.  I absolutely love our two dogs Lucy and Nelli. Lucy is our 14 1/2 year old naughty yellow labrador retriever who spends most of her day thinking about food while snoring on her well loved bed in the laundry room next to the rumbling dryer. She looks longingly at me while I work in the office just a few feet away, with an occassional thumping of her tail to let me know she is still alive and happy. Nelli is our 5 year old cairn terrier. She spends her day outside keeping all the wild critters off of her property! She has a 20+ year life span. While I will most likely outlive Lucy, I just might not outlive Nelli-one never can know when the inevitable will happen. I often wonder if it is true that cats have nine lives…and why not dogs or humans? So what do you plan to do about Fido, the family pet, when you die?  Have you even thought about that? 

Leona Helmsley planned ahead for her dog and made a very unusual estate plan in her will for her white Maltese named “Trouble”. Leona was a very wealthy lady who owned hotels in New York City.  In fact, when Leona died in 2007, she passed on 12 million dollars in her will for “Trouble”-  this is an amazingly crazy story about what she planned for her  beloved dog. While the majority of us don’t have 12 million dollars, only 17% of all pet owners make future care provisions for their pets. Here are some suggestions for you to think about and plan for:

• Have you provided for a caretaker for your pets in your will?
• Have you communicated that to your named caretaker?
• Have you created a folder with the names and types of pets along with your veterinarian’s contact in case of your sudden death?
• Do you own pet insurance? If so, what is the policy number and contact?
• Do you own livestock? If so, what is your plan for the care for the livestock after your death?
• Do you own Horses? Who is the current caretaker for the horses?
• Who will be the caretaker/owner of your horses upon your death?
• Have you made provisions for financing the cost of caring for your pets after your death? Pet owners know the high cost of care and maintenance of their pets. Make sure you leave some money behind for the caretakers!

  Have you considered or made any plans for when your pet dies?  Leona Helmsley’s dog Trouble was worth “big bucks”  when it died. Read what happened! We have made plans for our dogs in the event of our deaths. It doesn’t involve 12 million dollars, but it is a plan nonetheless. Have you made a plan for Fido?  Please share it with me. I am curious!