Pet Trust Planning for Daly City Residents

Compare ways to communicate your wishes

Start by deciding what you want the plan to accomplish. You might want to talk with a prospective caregiver and share practical information about the animal. You might also want to consider a trust specifically for the animal’s care. These are useful options to compare in a planning conversation; which one fits depends on the arrangement you want to explore.

California provides for trusts for the care of a living animal. For that arrangement, identify the animal-care purpose and consider the people and resources involved. Rather than beginning with a document in mind, begin with questions: Who could provide care? What information would that person need? What resources do you want considered, and who would oversee them?

• Consider whether your priority is communicating care preferences, organizing resources, or discussing both.
• Ask a proposed caregiver whether they are willing to discuss the role and what practical information they would want.
• Consider what alternative you would want to discuss if that person cannot take on the arrangement.

Think separately about care and oversight

When considering a trust, think about the people who may be involved and the role each might have. The enacted California animal-trust framework describes a distinction between a trustee and a person designated or appointed to enforce the trust purpose. Treat that as a planning distinction to discuss: would you want to explore separate people for those roles, or consider whether one person might be involved in more than one way?

The distinction does not answer who is right for your circumstances. Consider willingness, practical ability and whether the people you have in mind understand what you would be asking them to do. You can also discuss what you would want considered if someone’s availability changes. These are planning questions, not assurances that a particular person will serve or that a specific outcome will follow.

• List the people you might ask about care and oversight, without assuming either has agreed.
• Consider what questions would help you assess whether each person is comfortable with the proposed role.
• Discuss whether you want to identify an alternative if a person cannot participate.

Prepare useful care information

A planning discussion can be more concrete if you bring information about the animal and the care you have in mind. As optional preparation, you could gather identifying details, a summary of routines and preferences, and contact information for people or providers already involved. You might also write down the resources you want considered and the role you imagine for each participant.

Use those notes to explain your intentions and raise questions, not as veterinary advice. Consider what instructions would help someone understand the animal’s ordinary routine and what information you would want shared with a caregiver. California’s animal-trust provision concerns care of a living animal and calls for attention to the care purpose, people and resources involved.

• Bring a short care summary and relevant contact details if they would help explain your plans.
• Note questions about how you would want care information and resources organized.
• Identify circumstances you want to discuss, such as a change in the proposed caregiver’s availability.

Weigh the limits and choose a next step

A plan can express a care purpose and identify people and resources for consideration, but it cannot ensure that a proposed caregiver will be available or that future circumstances will match today’s instructions. The practical decision is whether you want to explore a trust for the animal’s care, discuss another way to communicate your preferences, or compare those approaches before deciding.

For a conversation, bring your questions about the intended care purpose, potential participants, resources and oversight. Codi M. Dada Law Office P.C. serves clients virtually throughout California and from its Novato office. A discussion can help you consider the arrangement you want to pursue without assuming that any participant has already agreed.