214-613-0585 jac@jacschuster.com

Here in McKinney, Texas we have quite a few Turkeys.  Some human, some not.

Believe it or not, under the law, you can leave your inheritance to your pet turkey.

Yes, I am assuming people love Turkeys that much and not just to invite them to Thanksgiving dinner. And they believe that this is a good idea.

It is called a Pet Trust.

Your spouse, whether being a pet or Turkey or both, doesn’t count.  That is easy, just make a will or put it all in a Trust for them.  More interesting talking about pets today.

People actually do this, and for good reason, a dog or cat sometimes is that special someone that stays loyal through it all and to the end.  When a person leaves this earth, it is a great feeling knowing that Fluffy or Kitty is going to be well cared for.

People spend a ton of money doing this, $50,000 or $100,000 buys a lot of dog food.  The average being $25,000 as state in this excellent article in the USA Today: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002-08-15-pettrust_x.htm. The Uniform Probate Code was recently been amended in 1993 – it’s real people!

Quoting again from the article, “The idea (of a trust fund for a pet) has gone from something that seems laughable to something that’s very mainstream, almost overnight,” Gerry Beyer, an estate law professor at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio says.

A will written by actress Betty White is reported to leave all of her $5 million estate to her pets.

However, be realistic, before you eat Thanksgiving dinner, your pet Turkey is not a good candidate for such an idea.  And that is my official legal opinion on the matter. Be nice, give the dog a bite of dinner and a Trust fund.  Who else in the family wags his tail at you?