b'Why Estate Planning For Pets?It Is the Ultimate in Responsible Pet Ownership and Provides Peace of Mindby Lauren Silvers, Esq.For most pet owners, pets are more than just our petsthey are incapacitation or death of the owner? Does this person have afamily members. And just like any other family member, it is plan in the event his or her living situation is not suitable toimportant to plan for them when planning our own futures. take on a pet when the time comes?Whenprovidingforpetsinestateplans,mostcommonly In addition to naming someone to take possession of thepeople only make shallow considerations regarding the life and pet, some estate plans may include an arbitrary lump sum ofcare of their furry family members that dont ensure the quality money with a statement of the desire that this money is usedof care some pet owners would expect them to have when they for pet care with no specificity as to what that entails. Again,are unable to provide for them. These shallow considerations there is no enforcement mechanism in place to ensure thisaregenerally,whowilltakepossessionofthepetand money is spent as intended; thus, this creates the problem thatsometimes a haphazard lump sum of money designated for there is no guarantee that the money will solely be used for thesimply pet care. Its a good idea to include these details in care of the pet. This can lead to the unfortunate scenario inyour estate plan, but the complexities that can arise without which the caregiver who the pet was devised to gives the petmore diligent planning are often overlooked. away and keeps the money. It is important to have a plan inplacetoprotectthepetandthemoneysetasideforthepets care.While the pet owners who simply devise the pet to a care-giver, or only provide a lump sum for pet care are done withgood intentions, they dont ensure that the pet is actually takencare of after their owner is no longer able to do so themselves,whether due to incapacity or death. The only way to guaranteethat a beloved pet is cared for in the manner desired is tocreateapettrust.Apettrustprovidestheenforcementmechanism that is missing in the above-mentioned scenarios.Pet trusts can stand alone, or they can be included within arevocable living trust or a last will and testament. Furthermore,pettrustsarenotspecifictoanindividualpet,andcanbeapplied to cover any pet owned by the estate planner at thetime of his or her incapacity or death.In addition to ensuring your pets are cared for and themoney that you have set aside for them is used explicitly fortheir lifetime care, a pet trust gives you the opportunity to pro-vide specific care instructions from the type of food they shouldbe eating, to the kind of environment you want them living in.For the pet owners who believe their pets are truly members ofthe family, a pet trust is the best way to protect them when youLauren and her dog Luna no longer can. UAn estate plan that only provides a straightforward state- Y Attorney Lauren Ashley Silvers founded Silvers Law, P.A.ment of who will take possession of a pet in the event of the after a personal experience highlighted the importance ofowners incapacitation or death, fails to consider whether the estate planning. Tragically, her best friend passed away at theperson designated to take possession of the pet will be willing age of 24, leaving behind a young daughter. With no estate plantodosowhenthetimecomes. Thereisnomechanismin in place, her friends estate was handled by state law, which didplace to force someone to take, and keep, possession of a pet not reflect her wishes. This experience motivated Lauren todevised to them in a will. This runs the risk that the pet could dedicate her career to helping others secure their legacies andbe surrendered to an unknown person or shelter. Here are some protect loved ones. She is committed to guiding clients throughquestionstoconsiderwhennamingapersontobethe complex legal matters with the utmost compassion duringcaregiver for your pet: Does this person know the pet? Does the difficult times. You may reach Lauren at 727.250.2002 or visitpet know this person? Does this person know he or she is www.SilversLawFL.com for more information.expectedtotakepossessionofthepetorpetsupon30 THE NEW BARKER www.TheNewBarker.com'