San Diego Estate Planning Attorney Blog

As a San Diego Estate Planning Attorney, I advise my clients that, if they have minor children, they MUST have an estate plan in place. period. A well-designed estate plan doesn't just state who will inherit your money and your belongings after you're gone. Most importantly, it will establish who will care for your children and how they will be provided for financially if you die or are unable to care for or provide for them due to illness or injury. Here are 10 simple elements of a well-designed estate plan for any California parent:

1. Set up a Revocable Living Trust now so that your estate won't be stuck in probate when you pass on.
2. Once you have set up your Revocable Living Trust, be sure to fund it!


3. Create pour-over wills naming guardians and successor guardians to care for your children when you're gone.


4. Also name temporary guardians - to care for your kids until the permanent guardians can take over custody. This is essential to avoid your children going into protective custody.


5. Name a trustee and successor trustee over your childrens' trusts who will be both responsible and caring in providing for your kids' financial needs.


6. Talk to your chosen guardians and trustees about your choices and your wishes for your children. You want to be sure they will accept the responsibility and will understand your wishes.


7. Carry a wallet card with you which includes up to date contact information for your childrens' temporary and permanent guardians, as well as your attorneys in fact, trustees and executors. If you suddenly become ill or injured, the police, EMTs, doctors and/or nurses need to know who to contact immediately.


8. Create a General Durable Power of Attorney, and a Medical Directive naming a person or people to make financial, legal and medical decisions for you if you are unable to do so. This will avoid conflict among your loved ones and help to guide them with difficult decisions in a time of crisis.


9. If you have pets, include them in your estate plan and consider a provision stating that your pets should be in the same household as your children. If your kids have lost you, you don't want them to lose their beloved pets as well.


10. Keep all of your financial information updated and prepare a list of all of your assets, accounts and professional advisors to make it easier for your family to handle your estate when your gone. You don't want your loved ones to have to dig through files and boxes looking for this information at such a difficult time.

What will happen to your beloved dog, cat, bird, horse or other pet if you die or become incapacitated? If you live in California the best way to ensure that your pet is provided for in the event of your incapacity or death is to establish a "pet trust".

Unless specific written provisions are made, many pets end up being displaced and even euthanized when their owners die or are no longer able to care for them. According to 2nd Chance 4 Pets, a nonprofit organization in Los Gatos, Calif., that raises awareness of this problem, nearly 500,000 pets are killed in shelters and vet offices each year after their owners die.

California Probate Code Section 15212 provides for the creation of a trust for the care of a pet or other domestic animal, so that you can not only designate a guardian to care for your pets, but you can also leave money specifically designated for the care of Fido or Tabby. A trust for your pet is essentially no different than the more common trust for children: a legal document tied to a sum of money set aside in an account with a trustee to manage the account for the benefit of the pets.

But is a trust really necessary? Why not just ask a friend or family member to care for your pets, or add them to your will? The answer is that there is no way to ensure that the friend or family member will make good on their promise, or that they will have the financial means to provide the care that your pet will need. And because a will is only effective upon death, it won't help if you are incapacitated. Wills must also go through the probate process, which can be very lengthy and delay the carrying out of your wishes for your pet.

A California pet trust, on the other hand, can provide for your pets during your lifetime if you are unable to care for them, does not have to be probated, and can be enforced not only by the named trustee or guardian of your pet, but even by "any person interested in the welfare of the animal or any nonprofit charitable organization that has as its principal activity the care of animals." (CA PROBATE § 15212(c))

When you work with your estate planning lawyer to prepare your plan, please be sure not to forget your pets!