Including Cats in the Will

Sorry if this is a touchy subject for some people..

Now that I'll be owning a condo, I need to make up a will. I think for a piece of my mind, I want to put "The cats come with property, you must take care of them and do not dump them at a shelter" type of thing- for lack of better phrasing

Have any of you done this? Is it feesable?

Hmmm.  I've certainly heard of cats in wills, but I don't know if I'd attach them to the property.  It'd be my luck that the new owner had cat-eating dogs.  Or were simply abusive to the cats.  Or throw them outside, since that's perfectly OK to do according to animal welfare authorities.

I think it's great that you're looking into how they are to be cared for if something were to happen to you.  It's something I've thought a lot about recently as well.

It's my biggest fear if I should die before they do, I know my parents won't care for them, and my sister doesn't like cats.. so that brings down to my nieces, who would inherit my property. Maybe whoever inherits my property inherits the cats and has to care for them?

I worry about this, too. Maybe you can appoint some godparents, either one of your nieces (if one or more loves cats) or a good friend. I wonder if a local rescue organization would be able to help out? For me, I would rather my babies be placed with loving cat people than with a relative who was lukewarm on cats. Attaching ownership of the cats to the property would make me nervous because there is no telling what the situation of the inheritor will be at the time of inheritance. What if they need to sell the property for income? You never know. It may be possible to make a legal arrangement with a rescue so they could take custody when the time comes and ensure the cats go to loving homes.

I've never drafted a will before (except that time I was 8 and wrote that my best friend gets my 200 Pokemon cards if I die), and I haven't known anyone personally who has, especially with pets included. I know in the parrot-owning community since most of them are so long-lived that chances are they do outlive their human companions, people will list a specific person to leave them to. When I was looking into this, I found nearby parrot rescues (of which there are relatively few compared to cat/dog rescues) and figured if there was not a single individual, or list of individuals that I trusted enough to leave my parrots to, they would go to a rescue of my designation. I wouldn't attach them to property either, just in case.

I was looking into this as a pure hypothetical so I didn't dig deep, but assuming you're getting serious about a will, you could name a few particulars who would be willing to take the cats and if they can't be reached or aren't in a situation to take them, speak with a rescue and have them taken into a rescue of your choice. You can leave $X of your estate to go towards the care of the cats, or to be donated to whatever rescue agrees to take them if anything happens.

Stuff like this exists where you can set up a trust and have it all planned first, but I think it's easier to get all this stuff in line when you're elderly and kind of preparing other after-life arrangements:

https://www.peaceofminddogrescue.org/lifetimecare.html

We are going to include our cats in our will, but I'd never attach them to the property (I doubt it's even legal--here anyway).  I've researched a cat "retirement center" not too far from where we live, sort of a refuge where we can give a donation ahead of time (or leave money for their care in our will) and if our relatives can't take the cats when we pass, they will be sent to the refuge where they can stay together and live out their lives.

I would not attach the cats to the property....I think it's just asking for trouble. You really need to talk to somebody, whether it be a relative (somebody you can trust) or to a shelter.

We did this. We talked to my sister and asked her to find homes for our cats. She said she would find a really good home......hers. She promised me that she won't let me down; she'll take good care of our kids. It's in our will (and she is also a co-executor.....our son is the other co-executor). We have a good-sized amount of money set aside in savings that is to be used for anything the cats need; I will rob a bank before I have to use any of that money. Anything leftover after the last cat has died will go to my sister. Our son understands that as well. My sister has also asked us to please do whatever we can not to bring in any more cats. And I can understand that. (Right now, she has 7 cats inside and five outside. We have our six inside cats.)

I think what we had written was, "Any and all cats in our/my possession at the time of our/my death.....". I'm pretty sure that's how our lawyer drew it up.

I didn't mean attaching them to the property, I meant someone will inherit them. I said it all wrong- whoops!

But yes- excellent advice here, thank you!

When I worked in law doing Wills and Estates, I incorporated my cats into my Will. The lawyer I worked for helped me.

I actually was going through my paperwork the other day and came across my Will.  Tomorrow I'll dig it out and post what he had me put into my Will about my cats.

One of the most important things is to not name the cats in the will, and to simply refer to them as "whatever cats that I may have at the time of my death." If you name them, and  one or all of them die before you do and you get more cats, the cats that are not named in the Will are not provided for.  I'll give you the exact wording tomorrow.

Natalie_ca said:

 
One of the most important things is to not name the cats in the will, and to simply refer to them as "whatever cats that I may have at the time of my death." If you name them, and  one or all of them die before you do and you get more cats, the cats that are not named in the Will are not provided for.  

Click to expand...

Exactly.  

I went and dug it out. It says the following:

Any cat which I may have at the date of my death to  <insert person's name here>.  I direct my trustee to set aside  <insert total dollar value here> and to pay the said <insert person's name here> the sum of <insert the yearly amount here> per annum for food, litter and veterinary costs for my said cat until the said sum of <insert total dollar value here>  is exhausted or the cat shall die, whichever shall first occur. Any part of the said fun of <insert total dollar value here> not used shall form part of the residue of my estate.

So for example that could read as follows:

Any cat which I may have at the date of my death to Jane Doe.  I direct my trustee to set aside $50,000.00 and to pay the said Jane Doe the sum of $5,000.00  per annum for food, litter and veterinary costs for my said cat until the said sum of $50,000.00  is exhausted or the cat shall die, whichever shall first occur. Any part of the said sum of $50,000.00  not used shall form part of the residue of my estate.

That is most helpful- it's pretty much what I had in mind. I'm going to save that for when I do my will I know what to talk to my lawyer about

I don't know how far along you are in the process of drafting the will but aI just wanted to throw this suggestion out there. My best friend has very particular stipulations which she wants to include in her will and I suggested she at least get a consultation with a lawyer who specializes in wills for the very wealthy and people with huge estates that probably have intricate request. The consultation fee may not be super expensive or maybe they can refer you to someone with experience in complicated estate planning.

Adding a pet to a Will is not complicated estate. I used to do Wills and Estates for several years when I worked as a Paralegal. I consulted with the client, drafted the Will, the lawyer I worked with reviewed it, made any suggested changes, and notarized it with the client.

Adding a pet is as simple as making sure the recipient knows about the bequest and is ok with it.  And then adding the clause I stated above.  Vary the total amount bequeathed according to your own situation, and the yearly amount based on how long you think your pet will live.  If at the time of your death, you do not have the available funds to support the total value bequeathed, the money will come from the sale of your assets and/or insurance if available.  Once the bequests are paid out, the balance becomes estate and is divided up according to your wishes in your will.

Of course the recipient could just decide to take the pets and not the money to care for them.

hmm.. well, in the fall, I will have to set up a will. I wrote down the advice here to ask my lawyer when all ready