How can you ensure your pets are cared for after your
death?

By Isobel Fensome

Solicitor

08 September 2025

Insights News

The continued care of pets after your death is often an overlooked practical consideration for post-death planning. Unless provisions are made in your Will, the future of your pets may be uncertain, and your family might not be aware of your wishes.

There are several methods of providing for animals in your Will:

Gift to Beneficiary

The first option is to gift the ownership of your pets to a beneficiary, along with a lump sum for their care if you wish to provide financial assistance or reward. The lump sum can be conditional on the beneficiary undertaking to care for the pets, or unconditional.

The downside to this approach is that there is no assurance the beneficiary will keep your pets, or follow any wishes you leave. Further, if the beneficiary (and any substitutes listed) predeceases you, the gift will lapse and you should consider who should care for your pets in those circumstances

Gift to Executor

In this case, you gift your pets and a lump sum to the executors, along with a letter of wishes setting out your preferences over who the pets should be passed to, and how they should be cared for.

This will provide the executors with discretion to choose who should care for your pets, which may be more appropriate in circumstances in which you do not know who should care for the animals, or do not have any suitable substitutes. Your executors can make an appropriate decision depending on the circumstances at the time.The advantage of this approach is that the gift will not lapse if the proposed beneficiary predeceases you, and your executors can take into account the circumstances at the time when deciding who should care for your pets.

Gift to Trust

Your Will can include a gift into a trust with the purpose of caring for an animal. Statute prevents trusts of this nature from exceeding 21 years in length. The fund can only be used for the purpose of caring for your pet, and the legal ownership of the funds within the trust would not pass to whomever the trustees choose to care for your pet.

This option is not generally used, as  there is the potential for uncertainty if the trustees choose not to act, or if there are insufficient funds to care for your pet.

Gift to Animal Welfare Charity

You can leave a cash sum to the chosen charity along with a request that the charity funds a suitable home for your pets.

Certain animal welfare charities now account for circumstances in which an individual does not have any willing family members to care for their pets, and offer to care for the pets until they can find suitable replacement homes. Of course, you do not have the same flexibility in choosing their new owner, nor in ensuring their care needs are met, and there is no way to guarantee that any cash gift you make to the charity will be used specifically for the care of your pets. However, this may be a suitable alternative to occur in the event that your chosen beneficiaries are unable or unwilling to care for your pets.

One possibility is to include a gift to a charity as a substitute clause in the event that your chosen beneficiaries cannot look after your pets after your death for any reason. This way you can be sure that there are some arrangements in place.

Points to Consider

Identifying the Pet

It is important to identify each pet within the Will. In most cases, a pet will be considered a personal chattel (with some exceptions such as working sheepdogs or livestock, which may be considered business assets) and it is important to ensure you do not accidentally gift them to an unintended recipient through a general gift of all personal chattels.

Current and Future Pets

You will need to consider whether the gift should account for your current animals, or all animals you own at your death. You should also consider whether there should be  different arrangements for specific pets.

Care & cost

When including a pet in your Will, you should consider the life expectancy and the annual cost of maintaining the pet so that you can decide how much financial provision you should make for their care. In calculating the lump sum, it is important to consider all care costs such as boarding, veterinary fees, insurance and training.

You should also take into account the beneficiary’s circumstances – for example, you might not be out of the house for extended periods of time, but will a beneficiary need to hire a pet-sitter whilst they are at work? You may currently keep your horses at home, but will the beneficiary be required to put them on full livery to meet their demands?

It is possible to index-link the lump sum to account for index rises.

If you would like to include your pets in your Will, or discuss the points raised in this article further, please contact a member of our Private Client Department.

Disclaimer: General Information Provided Only
Please note that the contents of this article are intended solely for general information purposes and should not be considered as legal advice. We cannot be held responsible for any loss resulting from actions or inactions taken based on this article.