So you hear stories about people leaving millions to their pets, when the pet dies, who or where does the money go to?
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My understanding from discussing this with my attorney/SO is that you can’t leave an inheritance to a pet, but you can leave it to a trust set up to care for the pet. The rules of the trust will define what happens. Probably liquidate the trust and donate proceeds to the RSPCA or some similar charity.
u/NewRelm is correct, the only way for a pet to “inherit” money is through a trust set up for the benefit of the pet. In over-simplified terms a “Trust” is a pile of money (or other valuable assets) that is controlled by someone (Trustee) for the benefit of someone else (Beneficiary). Any decent trust will have specific rules about how the money can be spent and how the remainder of the money will be distributed. So the Trustee uses the money in the Trust to make sure that Rover is taken care of per the terms of the Trust until Rover dies. After Rover dies, the Trust will have instructions on what happens to any money that is left over.
If someone leaves an inheritance to their pet in their will, then after the pet dies, the inheritance will go to whoever is named as the pet’s executor in the will.
It’s a trust set up to benefit the pet. I don’t have millions to leave for my cat’s care, but in my will, she is mentioned, together with a designated caretaker and the amount that will be set aside in trust for her care. In case of the cat’s death, the trust is dissolved and the money goes back to the estate.
You set up a trust for the pets and include what will happen to the trust when all pets have passed away.
We have that set up for our pets. Once they are gone, the remainder goes to 501c3 rescue organizations.
It works the same way as if a person leaves money to minor or person that is incapable of making decisions on their own.
A trust is setup by the decedent’s (dead person) will with an appointed executor (decision maker) for the benefit of the Trustee ( pet/person). From there the executor has the power to utilize the money in anyway they see fit as long as it benefits the trustee, this could include tuition, daycare, maintenance of the existing residence, daily living expenses, etc. Even lavish vacations could qualify, (FiFi the poodle never saw the pyramids and wants to go private jet? now they can). As long as no one objects it’s all good.
There also needs to be rules for what happens to the proceeds of the trust after the trust is no longer needed (trustee dies) or the executor is no longer needed (minor comes of age). In the case of the trust no longer being needed, it could be a donation to a charity in the trustees name or in the case of the executor being no longer needed the funds are turned over to the trustee.
Fun fact you can actually setup trusts for things too. i.e a house, or boat. Same rules apply.
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