Designers Karl Lagerfeld and Alexander McQueen both did it; and Oprah Winfrey is said to be planning it. Have you thought about who you would like to care for your pets and putting that in your Will?
Almost half the adults in the UK own a pet, among them some 11 million cats and 10 million dogs – and that was even before the great lockdown rush to get a puppy.
If you’re one of these people, you may already have a pile of paperwork about your pet. But there may be one aspect you haven’t yet thought about: putting them in your Will.
"You can’t leave a cat the cost of its care, but you can make a legacy for the cat, plus money for their upkeep."
We’re not advising leaving your entire fortune to your cockapoo (or cockatoo) here, or making an heiress out of your Airedale. But it’s still useful to plan what would become of your furry or feathered friends if something happened to you.
Legacies for pets?
The first thing to know is that you can’t actually leave money or any other legacy to a pet in Scotland.
But while they can’t be the object of a bequest, they can be the subject of one. In other words, you can’t leave a cat the cost of its care, but you can make a legacy for the cat, plus money for their upkeep.
How would you do it?
Three practical points
- Common sense would suggest you leave your pet to someone willing to look after them and ask that person first. You may also want to think about the person’s age; after all, parrots and tortoises can live to well over 50, and horses, donkeys and koi carp to over 25.
- You want to be sure your beloved poodle, parrot or pony will be cared for properly. This is a tricky area, for what’s to stop someone taking the cash legacy and then offloading the pet? You can stipulate in your Will that the new owner must take responsibility for the animal’s welfare for the remainder of its natural life. But this can still be hard for your executors to enforce. Another option is to create a trust to provide for the pet, with trustees appointed to check on its welfare.
- You will want to think about the cost of maintaining the said pet. You may not stretch to the £50,000 that Alexander McQueen left for his dogs, but, with many pets costing several hundred pounds a year in care, you won’t want to leave your beneficiaries with bills they cannot afford.
