This Is Not Springfield, It Is L.A.

Sam Simon was renowned as the co-creator of "The Simpsons."  When he died earlier this year, he left an estate worth at least $100 million, most of which he left to charity.  He left the care of his rescue dog, a Cane Corso (think a pit bull on steroids, dating from Roman times) to the dog's trainer.  Alas, he did not leave any funds to the trainer for the care of the dog which requires twice a week acupuncture at $3,600 per month, gluten free regionally sourced food for $185 month, and $150 grooming every three weeks.  The trainer also requested his $7,500 monthly fee to work with the dog to keep it from "changing your life in an instant (i.e. mauling)"  even though the trainer now owned the dog.  The trainer is upset that the trustee will not provide him the funds he has requested to care for the dog.

Several points:

1.   Trusts to provide for the care of pets after the death of an owner are permissible under Ohio law.

2.  If Mr. Simon's trust did not specifically provide for the care of the dog after his death, the Trustee is not permitted to distribute funds to the new owner of the dog.

3.  When leaving someone one's pet, one should also leave a sum of money to care for the animal. I always address this issue with my clients, lest they impose a financial burden on their friends.

4.  Mr. Simon could have made a huge difference in many human lives with the $140K he was spending annually on a dog prone to attacking anyone who walked onto his property, although attacking Howard Stern is understandable.

5.  Gluten free, regionally sourced food for dogs?  L.A. deserves our scorn and mockery.

Cuckoo Estate Planning

A Manhattan millionaire left $100K to a pet trust for her 32 cockatiels.  She requested that the birds continue to live in the aviary in her $4 million East Hampton property; that they be fed Avi-Cakes (which cost $115 for a 20 lb bag), carrots, water, and popcorn; and that the building be cleaned each Monday and Thursday.  She was far less meticulous with the rest of $5.3 million estate which she initially left to her step-son in a 2006 will.  She later tried to revise that will by crossing out his name and writing in the name of her sister who is now claiming the remaining $5.2 million.  

Several points, some of them previously made:

1.  Certainly this woman missed the forest for the trees - she focused on a picayune aspect of her estate while ignoring the proper disposition of the bulk of her estate.

2.  Handwritten changes on a validly executed will are ineffective and will likely lead to her step-son inheriting the $5.2 million (at least under Ohio law)

3.  As mentioned previously, I retain the original documents for my clients to preempt this type of attempted change/spoliation of wills.

4.  This type of myopic focus on pets while ignoring one's relatives is more commonly seen in cat owners rather than bird owners.   

All Dogs Go to Heaven (Update)

I previously posted about Bela, the German Shepherd, whose owner requested that he be put down, cremated, and have his ashes spread with the owner's ashes.  The owner's wishes resulted in a social media storm that ended with a Utah animal shelter providing him a home.  It turns out that the entire incident was much ado about a month. Bela was diagnosed with cancer over the weekend and put down. His ashes will be buried with his owner's.

All Dogs Go to Heaven

The will of a Cincinnati area woman is in the national news because it provides that her nine year old German Shepherd mix was to be destroyed and its ashes mixed with hers if a friend did not take the dog or the dog did not go to an Utah shelter for orphaned animals. The friend has declined to care for the aggressive dog who needs muzzling around strangers and the Utah shelter costs $40,000. Animal lovers are horrified about the likely euthanization of the dog and are pillorying the deceased woman in the media. 

Several points: 

1. Ohio law allows pet trusts. An individual is designated to take care of the animal(s) and someone else manages the funds for the care of the animal. I have drafted quite a few of these in the past 2 years. 

2. With the thousands of animals killed daily in shelters, I think the critics' ire is misdirected when trying to save an elderly Cujo. 

3. If the legal proceedings last very long, the dog will reach its life expectancy (10 years for German Shepherds) and die of natural causes.  Time is a friend of people and the dog.

Planning for Pets

Leona Helmsley created the most famous pet trust of all time when she left $12 million to her dog (which died earlier this month).   One does not have to be a multi-millionaire to leave funds for the care of an animal after death.  However, one should be careful in selecting the right person to care for the animal - the caregiver should not be motivated solely by money.  

In one instance, a maid and butler were provided free room and board as long as they cared for a cat.   The vet initially estimated the cat to be 8 years old.  The second time the vet saw the cat, he thought it was 4 years old. The third time he saw it, he estimated the cat to be one year old.  As the co-resident of a house with a cat resembling the Purina Cat Chow cat, I can attest to the physical similarity of most cats.  A more tightly drawn test pet trust wold have prohibited the maid and butler from replacing the decedent's cat with younger versions.  

With the $5.25 million unified credit negating estate tax planning for most individuals, the use of pet trusts in estate planning is one more example of estate planning going to the dogs (and cats).  

  

Planning for Pets Redux

Some good and some silly advice for dealing with pets after death.  The good is to think about a pet trust to provide financially for a pet after death.  The silly is to name the pet in a will, which I have never done in 25 years of drafting wills.  The sillier is to carry a "pet card" in a wallet so if one is struck by a car or has a heart attack, authorities will know that there is a pet at home that needs care.  No word on whether one should leave the Best Buy Rewards Zone card, Staples Rewards card, or airline frequent flyer card out of the wallet to make room for the "pet card."