How to Set Up a Pet Trust for Your Furbaby

Mia’s owner had to start rehab at a nursing facility around Thanksgiving. The owner’s health complications meant she had to rehome both of her dogs. The younger of the two dogs was successfully rehomed thanks to Bannink-Albrecht and her team at Tyson’s Place Animal Rescue, but Mia was going to be surrendered to a rescue in January. A family member was meant to be caring for the dog in the meantime, but Bannink-Albrecht discovered that wasn’t the case when she received a frantic phone call.

“A different relative stopped by the house and found Mia collapsed in her own urine and feces, unable to get up,” Bannink-Albrecht says. “There was no dog food or water for the dog found in the home. I raced to pick her up and carried her limp body into the emergency vet.”

Mia’s lack of care and underlying health issues led to a medical crisis that required euthanization.

“What she experienced in her last days in that home alone without food or water is difficult to think about — making a legal plan ahead of time could have prevented a lot of suffering,” Bannink-Albrecht says.

Hoyt recommends designating multiple people who can care for your pets in the event of your passing. More specifically, she says you want to choose someone to take care of your pets on a short-term basis as well as another person who can accept long-term responsibilities. She says it’s good to have at least three options, including an organization.

For pet owners who don’t have caregiver options for their pets, 2nd Chance 4 Pets — a nonprofit animal welfare organization that works to provide lifetime care solutions for pets — recommends that they explore having an animal sanctuary or perpetual-care program take over the care of their pet. Lists of these programs can be found on its website, but the nonprofit emphasizes the importance of inspecting the program or facility you choose to ensure it provides an environment with adequate love and care.

Consider a pet trust

A pet trust is a legally sanctioned arrangement providing for the care and maintenance of companion animals in the event of a grantor’s disability or death. Creating one requires very specific paperwork and funding mechanisms that differ from leaving money and property to human family members.

Legally, it’s not possible to leave money directly to an animal, so setting up a pet trust with either one trustee or a board to oversee the process is the best way to ensure one’s fur babies will be properly cared for.

Hoyt says a trust is the only way to guarantee that your animals have the resources they need because it establishes an oversight mechanism to ensure that the money you leave is used for the purpose you intended. But it’s very important to choose your trustee wisely. According to Hoyt, you typically wouldn’t want the person caring for the pet to also be in charge of the money.

Know your pet trust options

If you’re looking at types of pet trusts, you can get either a stand-alone pet trust or a pet trust within a larger trust.

“Either type [of trust] may be effective while the pet parent is alive (an inter vivos or living trust) or after the pet parent’s death because it is contained in the pet owner’s will (a testamentary trust),” says Gerry W. Beyer, a professor at Texas Tech University School of Law and an estate planner.

The stand-alone pet trust (or “living trust”) exists from the moment it is created and operates as “a trust exclusively for the pet,” Beyer says. A dedicated account can be set up in the name of that pet trust, or it could be named as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy or retirement plan. In the event of an accident or death, it would be funded immediately.

You can also set up a pet trust within a larger trust, which acts like a drawer in a dresser. This type of trust does not kick in until your death.

“A pet trust within a larger trust means that provisions for the pet are included in a trust for other purposes, such as for children and grandchildren,” Beyer says.

These detailed plans prevent the common probate delays, but there can still be delays in accessing the money if the pet trust is receiving a specific amount from the larger trust, Hoyt says. “You [the appointed pet caretaker] may have to wait until the administration of the trust is complete."

Hoyt once had a client who had a pet trust written into his will, but it took five months to fund it after his death. During that time, his cats were living in his home without a full-time caregiver. The neighbors and some friends went over to feed them out of the goodness of their hearts, but there would have been no resources to pay for the cats’ care had they experienced a health issue or emergency during that time.

With costlier animals like equines and birds that require more intensive care, this kind of funding delay could be catastrophic. “The boarding barn could sell your horse to auction or, worse, just not take care of it,” Hoyt says.

Think of the money

Most estate planners suggest using a life insurance policy to cover the costs of pet care; however, for exotic animals that live a long time, such as parrots or tortoises, an endowment that invests its funds to earn money for the pet’s care is worth considering.

“A 10-year-old parrot could easily live another 90 years,” Beyer says. “You have to plan for a succession of caregivers and put more property into a trust that will earn money over time and won’t get depleted. This planning is less important for short-lived pets such as dogs and cats.”

There are several online calculators to help pet owners estimate how much money they will need to leave for their specific pet.

If you’re creating a pet trust, you also need to decide where the money goes when the animal passes. Hoyt recommends giving the remaining funds to charity.

Make sure your pets are up to date on veterinary care

“One thing I like to talk about whenever I can is that it is so important for pet owners to be sure their animals are current on veterinary care — both for the quality of life of the animals and for making the transition to a new home easier,” Bannink-Albrecht says. “I could give you endless examples of senior dogs and cats that come to us with some pretty horrific unintentional medical neglect because the owners were ill or elderly themselves and lacked the resources to get their animals to the vet regularly.”

Bannink-Albrecht pleads with pet owners to take their animals to the vet yearly and to make sure they’re getting blood work.

“When it is time to rehome your animal, an animal that is healthy and current on veterinary care is easier to place, plus you are improving the quality of life for the animals,” Bannink-Albrecht says.

Because the organization has seen so many animals suffering from unintentional medical neglect, Tyson’s Place Animal Rescue recently started a program that helps older Michigan residents in financial need with veterinary bills. Bannink-Albrecht says the program helped more than 60 pet owners in 2025.

No matter what you decide to do, remember that not ensuring your pet is cared for can lead to really unfortunate outcomes.

“Without proper planning for your pets, their care upon your disability and death will be uncertain,” Beyer says. “Your beloved pets could be placed in a bad home or even sent to a shelter where euthanasia may be the end result.”