Florida Pet Trust Lawyer

A Florida Pet Trust is created to care for your pet in the even of your incapacity or death.  Florida law considers a pet as personal property and as such your pet must go through a Florida probate in the event of your death just like a house or other personal asset.

While most assets can wait months or years to be distributed to benficiaries, our pets cannot.  This is one of the most compelling reasons to create documents which provide for the care and needs of our pets.  Some animals may live for 30-50 years after we are gone and without the resources and instructions necessary to provide for them, their change of having a happy life is reduced.

In a Florida Pet Trust, the trustee may is given possession of an animal and the funds to help take care of the expenses associated with the care. The Florida Pet Trust only allows for named animals that exist at the time the Settlor is alive to be taken care of. Once the animals are no longer in existence, any remaining funds are distributed. The Florida Pet Trust is gaining popularity with people who have animals that will outlive the settlor and for those who want their pets taken care of without placing a burden on the caretakers.

It is important to determine if you want to fund the trust while you are alive or upon your death.  If the Florida Pet Trust will be funded upon your death it can be created with provisions added to your Florida Will or Florida Revocable Trust and is called a testamentary pet trust.

If the trust is funded during your life there are other considerations that need to take place. 

In either case you need to determine how much money the trust will be funded with so that the trust will not run out of money during the pet's lifetime.  Some of the issues that need to be considered are how long the animals will live, the cost of health care, if you will compensate the trustee and the caregiver, and the cost of grooming, food, and medical care.

If you would like more information on Florida Pet Trust or to create a Pet Trust in Jacksonville or other areas of Florida, CONTACT our Florida Pet Trust Lawyers by email or call us at 904-685-1200 to discuss your situation today.

To read more about Florida Pet Trusts see the Florida Estate Planning Lawyer Blog.