This is a short note about leaving a bequest of your cat and caregiving money to someone to look after your cat or cats in your will. You’ll need two documents. We are told that more and more people are doing this whereas at one time it was the domain of celebrities such as Karl Lagerfeld who died in 2019 and left his cat Choupette £1.2 million. Last week the Burmese was photographed celebrating her 13th birthday with a picnic in the grounds of the Palace of Versailles!
Use a will together with a ‘letter of wishes’ to make provision for your cat on your passing.
Use a Wil together with a letter of wishes to make provision for your cat on your passing by Michael BroadThe average person won’t do what Lagerfeld did but they want to make sure that their cat or cats or other pets are cared for properly on their passing. The problem is this: under British law, animals are defined as ‘personal chattels’ i.e. inanimate objects, not sentient beings, so they cannot be left cash. Time for a change in British law?
However, they can be given to someone else in a will and then the cash to look after them can be bequeathed under a ‘letter of wishes’.
A partner at the law firm FBC Manby Bowdler, contacted by The Times, said:
“You can leave a letter of wishes alongside a gift of the animal and money, and can make it contingent on the person agreeing to look after the pet.”
My interpretation of that is that a person can bequeath money and their pet to a person who they trust in their will. This would, in effect, be a gift of a chattel as mentioned above. And then alongside the will in a separate document which accompanies the will, would be the letter of wishes which is not legally binding but it provides instructions concerning the caregiving of the pet cat. And it would be contingent upon i.e. dependent upon the person agreeing to look after the animal.
In essence, the letter of wishes provides guidance concerning pet caregiving to the individual dealing with the gift in your will of your cat and cash.
This gets around the barrier of giving cash to a companion animal. It is interesting that most families regard their companion animal as a family member on equal terms to people but British law does not because this aspect of it was written at a time when pets were not seen as members of the family.
That’s how it works in practice and it is becoming more popular. The alternative would be to set up a foundation or trust but this is nearly always impractical because of the costs involved and the complexities. Although Oprah Winfrey, an enormously rich individual, reportedly did set up a foundation/trust and set aside US$30 million of her fortune to look after her three spaniels should she die before them.
Although leaving too much money for a pet can lead to a will being challenged by beneficiaries, that is other people who receive money in the will. A judge can override the terms of a will under exceptional circumstances.
It’s important apparently to be “careful how you word this [giving of money to a caregiver of pets] in your will to ensure the beneficiary only receives the cash gift on the basis he/she agrees to look after your pet”. Those words of advice come from the Co-op Legal Services as reported in The Times.
The Co-op also reminded those writing a will to “speak to the person you want to look after your pet and get their consent” beforehand. This is common sense obviously. And the person selected really must be of the right quality I would argue. A loyal and trusted friend or relative and someone who loves animals ideally.
The Co-op Legal Services said that one in eight people who come to them for will writing services inquire about making provisions for their companion animals. More people are considering the impact that their death will have on their companion animals.
