Page 39 - Chow Life - 2025 01 Spring
P. 39
Be Prepared
Plan Ahead!
by MARGARET DICORLETO,
AKC Delegate for the Chow Chow Club
All Breed Clubs Committee
No one wants to think about getting old or sick, Plan Ahead
but as responsible dog owners, we must think Regardless of your health today, have a plan for
about what would happen to our dogs if we your dogs in the event of temporary or permanent
became incapacitated or died. Everyone should disability or death. The best way to do this is
have a written plan for the care for their dogs with an attorney familiar with these issues, but
in the event of an accident, illness, or death. even an online Power of Attorney form, properly
Share this plan with the significant people in witnessed, is better than nothing. Post Emergency
your life! Every day we hear about dogs that end Care and contact instructions in an easily found
up homeless or confiscated because the owner location in your home or kennel. Authorize AKC
couldn’t care for them. Do not assume that family registration/ownership to be made on your behalf
members will be willing or able to take on the if you are incapacitated or dead.
responsibility of caring for your beloved pets!
When preparing an estate plan, pet owners
often fail to include provisions that provide for
their pet's care upon the owner's death. Pets
surrendered to shelters due to the declining
health or death of a caretaker can often be
avoided had the pet owner asked their
attorney to prepare a pet trust.
Including Your Pet in Your Will
Once you have selected a caregiver
for your pets, finalize the
arrangement and include it in your
will. This ensures that you are
leaving formal instructions for who
will take custody of the animals
after your passing. You may also
want to discuss setting up a trust
with your attorney. This way you
can leave behind funds for the
caregiver to help cover the financial
costs of caring for your pets.
If the court does not appoint an
Executor of your estate, the next of
kin will be the executor of the estate. A
“Statement of Legal Rights” form (available
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