Pet Trust Planning for Hermosa Beach Residents

Separate daily care from trust responsibilities

Start by distinguishing the person you hope will provide the animal’s day-to-day care from the person who would manage trust responsibilities. California law provides for trusts for the care of a living animal, and the animal-care purpose and the people and resources involved should be identified.

The trustee and a person designated or appointed to enforce the trust purpose have distinct roles. Naming a proposed caregiver, by itself, does not answer who will manage trust resources or who will oversee whether the stated purpose is being carried out. Consider those responsibilities separately when discussing the arrangement.

Decide what care the arrangement should describe

Think through the practical care you want the plan to support: who may be able to take the animal, what instructions would help that person, and what resources are intended to support the animal’s care. These choices help define the proposed trust’s animal-care purpose and the people and resources involved.

Use specific, understandable instructions about the animal’s routine and needs as a planning aid for a future caregiver. Those notes can help communicate your preferences, but they do not themselves assign trust-management or oversight authority. Discuss how instructions should relate to the responsibilities set out in the estate-planning documents.

• Write down the animal’s identity and the care preferences you want a future caregiver to understand.
• Consider whether your proposed caregiver is willing and able to take on the role.
• List the resources you are considering for the animal’s care and the person who would manage them.
• Identify separately who you want to oversee the trust’s animal-care purpose.

Match each person to a defined responsibility

Before settling on names, ask who would provide daily care, who would act as trustee, and whether someone else should be designated or appointed to enforce the trust purpose. California’s framework recognizes a distinction between a trustee and a person responsible for enforcement. That distinction can help you identify gaps before the plan is finalized.

A proposed caregiver should not be assumed to have authority to manage trust resources or enforce the trust purpose simply because that person is named to care for the animal. Likewise, identifying a trustee does not, by itself, establish who will provide daily care. Discuss how each responsibility should be addressed in your particular plan.

Prepare for the planning discussion

Bring a short written summary of the animal’s care preferences, the person you would like to care for the animal, the resources you are considering, and your preferences for trust management and oversight. If you have not settled on a person for a role, note that as an open decision rather than treating it as resolved.

A useful next step is to discuss the proposed caregiver and the separate trustee and enforcement roles with the firm, along with the animal-care purpose and intended resources. Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. serves clients virtually throughout California from its in-person office in Novato.