TAKING CARE OF YOUR PALM BEACH POODLE AFTER YOU’RE GONE: a look at Palm Beach pet trusts

Probate clients, especially Palm Beachers, tell us that family is important, but that their pets ARE family.

• Hell, some clients like their pets better than their son-in-laws!
• Hey, that’s OK. Wealthy families from Jupiter to Boca Raton can do what they want with their money, right? And they are.
• They are leaving $ in a special, unique Palm Beach Pet Trust for the benefit of their Palm Beach poodle and their Boca Raton boxer.
• That’s because a unique and little-understood Florida trust law, hidden in the Florida Trust Code, provides for the management of $, in trust, for pets.
• You can pick the length of the trust, the terms, and appoint a trustee.
• Want $ in trust for your Delray Beach Dalmatian? Done!
• $ for favorite or specific pet food for your Boynton Beach feline? Accommodations for your snake, gator or exotic bird? Set up a pet trust under Florida law.
• But be careful: choose your trustee wisely, make the standards for distribution of money focused and specific, and most of all, consider who gets the money when your pet dies.
• Finally, don’t let some estate planning attorney “over sell” you…Pet trusts are NOT expensive.
• OK….. one last word: you may not want to tell your kids about this….. if they learn that you are leaving $ in trust for a pet, they may freak out….or even challenge the trust when you are gone: so , know how to make the Palm Beach pet trust bulletproof.