Don't Forget to Plan for Your Pets: An Estate Planning & Probate Attorney Takes Cats to the Vet

Don't Forget to Plan for Your Pets: An Estate Planning & Probate Attorney Takes Cats to the Vet

By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

October 28, 2024

Artemis Plays Hide-and-Seek in the Wall Cabinet - image by M. Gustafson Gervasi

Normally my household responsibilities are clustered on nights and weekends, leaving my weekdays available for clients.  Today was not one of those days.  A previously scheduled annual vet visit for two of our four cats was crowded out of my weekend calendar due to my high schoolers’ cross country commitments.  Fall is a busy time in our home.  So, on a Monday morning I threw on casual clothes (that would soon be covered in cat fur), fished out the cat carriers, and wrangled the twins in record time.  Cages secured, we piled into my car and headed south on Highway 14 to our vet clinic.  Both cats received clean bills of health and I had a nice chat with our veterinarian, someone I have known since we were in high school together.  The excursion was uneventful.  And for that I am thankful.  However, I am also prepared for challenging times.

Cats have been a part of my home my entire adult life.  As an estate planning and probate attorney, I have also taken steps to make sure the care of our furry family members is not compromised should I die or be too sick to care for my cat crew.  My estate plan includes a pet trust, which is more common than you might think.  I also have a Power of Attorney for Finances that explicitly grants my agent to make financial decisions regarding my pets.  

A pet trust is a tool that transfers ownership of any pets you own at death (legally pets are considered your property) as well as some cash funds.  The trust holds the pets and the cash, which is used by a trustee you appoint to pay for vet bills, grooming, food, medicine, etc.  My trust even says where any unused funds should be donated when the last of my pets dies.   But what if I do not die?  What if I am alive but too sick to manage their care?  Under my Power of Attorney for Finances I have included language so that my agent (first my spouse, second a local bank) can secure lodging, vet services, etc., if I cannot.  Having practiced estate planning and probate for nearly 20 years, I am aware that what used to kill us immediately no longer does.  We may survive, but not in a capacity to resume our prior habits and to live independently. 

Estate planning boils down to taking control of who will do what when you no longer can.  For all of my fellow pet owners out there, please do not overlook making plans for your feathered and furry family members.  Even if you do not have the time or financial resources to create the documents described here, take a few minutes to leave notes related to your pet companions.  Any amount of organization can be a gift in the event of a medical crisis:

• Name, location, and contact information for your veterinarian
• Name and contact information for pet sitter(s)
• Information on pet health insurance if you carry it
• Instructions for feeding, especially if prescription food is needed
• Instructions and location of medications
• Grooming schedule, including contact information for any professional service you use
• Name and contact information for short-term and long-term caretaker for your pet if you are in the hospital or care facility for an extended stay
• Notes on any subscription deliveries for food or supplies that are auto filled and delivered

 Please note, a blog is not legal advice.  It is meant to spark thought and reflection.  Please consult an attorney licensed in your state for counsel specific to your situation.  Thank you for reading.  Please share with others who might find this piece helpful.  Be well!

Decluttering! The Overlooked Aspect of an Estate Plan

Decluttering! The Overlooked Aspect of an Estate Plan

By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

October 22, 2024

Cross Country Meet, Image by M. Gustafson Gervasi 2024

Confession, I am a competitive person.  Challenge me to something (within reason) and chances are I will bite.  Connect the challenge to decluttering my home, and you are guaranteed I’ll jump at the opportunity.  That was the situation late this past summer.  A dear friend posted a Facebook challenge for the Minimalist Game, and she tagged me.  Having played this game a few years ago, there was no hesitation.  I accepted the challenge; game on!  We were going to spend September purging items from our homes.  

The game starts out easy, on the first day of the month you purge one item from your home.  On the second day you re-home two items.  On the third day of the month, you remove three items. And it goes on throughout the month.  While it may start out easy, the game gets harder and harder as the number of daily items increases.  How do you get rid of 24 items one day and 25 the next?  Tossing an item into the trash becomes the obvious and most tempting option.  However, I am both highly frugal and concerned about overflowing landfills. I forced myself to seek out other options before adding an item to the garbage bin.

As an estate planning and probate attorney I regularly hear clients ask “how do I make my death as easy as possible on my family?” My answer is always to be as organized as possible.  And in the quest to be organized, consider a purge.  To be realistic one day you are either going to move, and move all of your things.  Or you will die, and someone else will move all of your things.  The fewer things you have, the easier it will be. So do not put off until tomorrow something you can do today, clear the clutter!  It will be a gift in the end, either or yourself or to your loved ones.

For our September game my friend and I modified the rules to reflect our busy lives.  We let go of the rigid requirement of on day 1 you purge one item, day two you purge 2, etc.  Instead we calculated the sum total of 1 to 30, which tolated 465 items.  That was our goal.  Next, we created a spreadsheet on Google Sheets and shared it with each other.  Kudos to my friend, she achieved her goal.  I however did not.  Life got in the way.  Too busy with work.  Then too busy with school events for the kids.  And then I just needed downtime to rest.  If I cannot remove 465 items from the very home I live in when I am operating under a normal schedule (not one driven by grief or urgency), then how will your loved one fare?  I did remove 350 items.  Here are some tips I can offer from my own experience:

• Have an accountability buddy – in this case my friend could see my progress (or lack of progress) on our shared Google Sheet.  We also texted one another pictures of car trunks filled, headed to the thrift store.  Get a buddy for this activity, it is a chore made more fun with a friend. 
• Document your progress.  A simple spreadsheet with a tally was a great way to stay aware of what progress I had made, and when I had started to stall.  It’s hard to ignore numbers.
• Give it away via Porch Pick Up.  Use social media to post pictures of what you are looking to re-home and set it out for pick up on your porch.  I am amazed at how quickly some items are snapped up. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.  For example, September 1st I met a lovely neighbor who was delighted to take a bottle of whipped rum I pulled from the back of a cabinet.  It had sat on our shelf from a party long ago, and was not a taste my husband or I enjoyed.  A picture posted to our neighborhood’s Facebook page found it a new home in under an hour!  Hauling items away is a job in and of itself; use porch pick up and people will do the hauling for you! 
• Find a program with small children to take things you cannot recycle.  Whether it is your local elementary school, city library, or church youth group, these programs can turn old holiday cards, plastic straws and assorted belongings into art projects for kids.  It may one day end up in the landfill, but its life will be extended and that youth program won’t have to spend money on supplies. 
• Donate to a thrift store that supports your values.  In our home the go-to donation pile is for the Dane County Humane Society Thrift Store.  We are a cat family.  A four-cat family.  Yes, we have 4 felines in our loving care.  Which means we are at our limit….we cannot help another cat by opening our home.  We can however open our closets, cabinets, and drawers to purge items that are gathering dust.  My teenagers warmly embrace letting go of possessions when they know it might be sold at the thrift store, which uses the revenues to support the mission of the Dane County Humane Society.  What is your passion?  
• Do not put off purging for a rainy day.  If you have piles of plastic deli containers you might use one day, give them away now for someone who can use them now.  Chances are you won’t remember where you stashed them, and then you’ll find them 2 years later.  We live in a society that allows us to buy anything we need with a few simple keystrokes, and have it delivered to our doorstep.  If you think you are saving money by holding onto things, remind yourself you are paying money to store all of these collections.  Space is not free.  We all pay per square foot – in rent, or mortgage payments, or on lost investment dollars.  

Cold Kentucky Rain - Image by M. Gustafson Gervasi 2024

We are well into October now and the Winter Holidays are coming up quickly.  I plan to set another small purge goal for now until December 1st.  Dear Reader, you are my accountability buddy now – my challenge is to purge another 200 items from our home.  That is 50 items per human.  It can be as small as a notebook or as large as a piece of furniture.  Check back in December to see if I have any more lessons to share on the topic of decluttering.  It is an often overlooked aspect of estate planning.

Follow my blog!  Enter your email address above (upper right) to receive alerts for new posts.  And share this post on social media with those who might benefit.  And as always, remember that a blog is not legal advice.  It is meant to spark thought and reflection.  It is best to seek legal advice from an attorney licensed in your home state.  Be well and thank you for reading. 

 

A Lesson From The Bard On Estate Planning

A Lesson From The Bard On Estate Planning

October 14, 2024

By Melinda Gustafson Gervasi

Red taillights sprawled in front of us as we headed east along Wisconsin’s Highway 14.  It was after 10pm on a Sunday evening, and we were one of the many couples who had made the annual journey out to American Players Theater in Spring Green, Wisconsin.  As the road entered into the more populated suburbs it widened into two lanes and my breathing eased just a bit, as it always does when I leave a highway known for its deadly accidents.  High speeds, deer running about at night, and an undivided highway make for a tense drive.  Especially having just watched King Lear; a play where nearly every character dies in the end.

It was a night out for my husband and I.  Our teenagers were at home, focused on their homework with a simple pasta dinner.  Yet, sitting there under a night sky dotted with stars, my mind could not quite relax into the moment.  Instead it dashed about, just like the bats flying around the stage lights at this picturesque outdoor amphitheater situated in the woods of South Central Wisconsin.  As the three act play unfolded, my work brain kept kicking in.  I’ll blame Shakespeare...

The Stage at APT - Image by M. Gustafson Gervasi 2024

King Lear may have been written in 1604, however, it’s full of modern estate planning concepts.  It opens with the King directing his three daughters to state their love for him.  Two daughters comply, professing their love and devotion in front of an audience that senses their deception.  Lear’s third daughter, Cordelia, refuses to engage in such behavior and remains silent.  Her silence causes Lear to fly into a rage.  He banishes Cordelia and divides his kingdom between his other two daughters, Goneril and Regan.   Listen closing and you will hear the words of my profession: heir, issue, perpetual, and disclaim.  You will also witness the pain and suffering a parent may experience when they relinquish control of their assets to dishonest children.  Lear’s plan failed to unfold as he hoped, and he found himself descending into madness while wandering around in the middle of a horrible storm. Oh King Lear, why did you not consult your lawyer first!

If you would like to minimize the level of Shakespearian drama in your own estate plan, avoid copying King Lear.  Quite simply, do not make a plan when you are emotional.  Here are three simple ways to keep the emotion low, resulting in a sound estate plan that you will be content with:

• Gather information on your family, assets, liabilities and goals.  At my office I accomplish this through a client questionnaire.  The form helps my clients capture information and feelings about their estate plan.  
• Sketch out a draft of your plan, then pause to reflect on how it feels.  With my clients we meet initially to review their questionnaire and determine what documents they need and what the forms should say in order to accomplish their goals.  This meeting is followed by a second meeting held a week or two later.  Then I walk them through the forms paragraph by paragraph.  They can ask questions, and they can make edits.  It is the perfect time to dial back the emotion and drama a hastily made plan can generate.  
• About 10 to 14 business days later, finalize your estate plan by executing it in the presence of witnesses (each state in America has its own witnessing requirements – make sure you follow the correct laws).   

In play parlance, this would be three acts.  One, setting up the situation by gathering your thoughts and goals on estate planning.  Two, rising action where you see those thoughts on paper and decide whether to move forward or get out the eraser.  And three, the resolution of the situation by ending with a legal execution of the paperwork.  

Thank you for reading.  Keep in mind that a blog post is not legal advice.  It is meant to spark thought, reflection and conversation.  Always consult a licensed attorney in your home state for advice specific to your situation.  Be well and may your estate plan end in a less tragic way than King Lear's.