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Providing for Your Pets in Your Estate Plan

Before his death, Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld was accompanied everywhere by his beloved cat, Choupette. The beautiful snow-white feline was featured in product launches, had an Instagram account, and was the subject of two books. When Lagerfeld died in 2019, it was rumored that the cat had become one of the largest beneficiaries of his estate, estimated to be over $200 million.

Of course, you don’t need to be an ultra-wealthy fashion scion to care about the future of your pets. For many of us, our pets are more than animals – they are our family. But what happens to them if something happens to you?

Just like a human loved one, your pet depends on you. That’s why it is important to include them in your estate plan. Without clear direction, your pet’s future could be left to chance; but, with some foresight, you can ensure that they will continue to receive the love and care you want for them.

Here are a few suggestions of how you can protect your pet as part of your estate plan.

Choose a Caregiver

Designate someone you trust to care for your pet. Talk to them ahead of time to make sure they are willing and able to assume responsibility. When a person passes away, the authorities may have to default pet ownership to the next of kin, and if there haven’t been proper discussions prior, they may end up being rehomed. You may also want to consider a backup caregiver in the event that the first choice is unable to care for your pet.

Leave Detailed Instructions

Include information about your pet’s routines, medical needs, food preferences, and even personality quirks. If you have a trusted veterinarian, dog walker or pet sitter, be sure to include that information in your documentation as they may be able to provide perspective in your absence.

Set Aside Funds

You can leave money or property to your chosen caregiver with instructions for their use in caring for your pet. Alternatively, you can set up a pet trust, a legally enforceable way to provide money for your pet’s ongoing care.

Work with a Professional

An estate planning attorney can help you structure everything legally and effectively. They will likely have experience counseling clients and can share ways in which clients have accomplished this aspect of their legacy plan. While trusts for pets are legally recognized in most states, there may be variations in how they will be structured and enforced.

Planning for your pet is about love, responsibility, and peace of mind. It’s one more way to make sure your legacy reflects your values, and the lives that matter most to you.

Giving before You Are Gone: Clever Ways to Distribute Wealth

For a long time, putting your estate in order and planning your legacy was a straightforward process. You wrote out a will, named your survivors, and detailed who would receive what when you passed.

These days, there are new ideas around how wealth is transferred, including distributing the funds while the benefactor is still alive and able to witness the ripple effects of their gift(s). Here are a few examples of creative ways to share your wealth with your loved ones and charitable causes now or in the immediate future.

Give Generously – and Tax Free

The IRS allows individuals to give up to $19,000 per recipient (in 2025) each year without triggering gift taxes. That means a couple could jointly give $38,000 per recipient per year. This is a smart way to gradually transfer wealth to children, grandchildren, or even friends, without eating into your lifetime gift and estate tax exemption. Some savers opt for an annual gifting strategy where they help pay for a loved one’s tuition, down payment or other savings, all while reducing their taxable estate.

Pay Directly for Medical Expenses or Tuition

Instead of giving cash, you can pay tuition or medical bills directly on someone’s behalf. These payments aren’t subject to gift tax limits, no matter how large. It’s a stealthy, IRS-approved way to support someone you love without affecting your annual gift limit.

Set Up a Donor-Advised Fund (DAF)

While not new, donor-advised funds are being used in new and creative ways. A donor-advised fund is like a charitable investment account. You contribute cash, stocks, or other assets, get an immediate tax deduction, and then recommend grants over time to your favorite charities. A donor-advised fund could be co-managed by parents and children and centered around the values and philanthropic efforts dear to them.

Start a Legacy Business or Family Foundation

If you want to blend entrepreneurship, family, and philanthropy, consider starting a small business or foundation with your loved ones. It could be a scholarship fund, a nonprofit, or a community initiative. Involve your children early so they can help shape the mission and be inspired to carry it forward.

Establish a Family Trust or Living Trust

A trust allows you to control how your wealth is distributed, both while you’re alive and after. A revocable living trust lets you maintain control of your assets and smoothly pass them to heirs without going through probate. You can also set conditions – like age restrictions or purpose-based use (education, housing, etc.) around the funds. Additionally, an irrevocable trust may be used to remove assets from your estate, potentially lowering estate taxes and protecting wealth from creditors.

Gift-Appreciated Assets

Rather than selling appreciated stocks and paying capital gains tax, gift them directly to loved ones in lower tax brackets or donate them to charity. Charities can sell these assets tax-free, and you get a full-value deduction. Family members who receive the assets may also benefit from a stepped-up cost basis if they inherit it, but that benefit doesn’t apply to lifetime gifts, so remember that timing is crucial.

Invest in Life Experiences, Not Just Inheritance

Sometimes the best gift isn’t cash, it’s shared experience. Use your wealth to fund family travel, multi-generational events, or special experiences that create lasting memories. These are hard to replicate and deepen emotional bonds. Better yet, frame these experiences as value-based with a visit to a place connected to your family history or by volunteering together as part of a trip abroad.

Make Loans with Forgiveness in Mind

You can make intra-family loans at below-market interest rates. If structured correctly, they can fund a loved one’s home, education, or business venture. You can then forgive these loans over time within gift tax limits which essentially makes a loan into a gift gradually.

Talk About It Early

The biggest financial gift you can give is clarity. Don’t keep your wealth plans a secret. In many cases, adult children are not inheriting as much as they think they will. Talk with your family about your intentions, your values, and how you want your money to reflect both sides of the coin. These frank conversations may prevent future disputes and may also help them to understand you and carry your legacy forward with perspective and wisdom.

Parting Thoughts: Give While it Matters Most

Distributing wealth before you’re old or gone isn’t just about smart tax planning, it’s about living generously. You can see the results of your giving, help your loved ones avoid stress, and bring more purpose to your financial decisions. Whether it’s helping your child buy their first home, funding your grandchild’s tuition, or expanding a charity’s impact, you get to be part of that story now.

Cleaning and Organizing … the Swedish Way

There are many organizational methods for reducing our clutter and making our spaces more efficient, tidy, and serene. There is the “One-Touch Method” which bucks procrastination in favor of putting things away immediately after use, and the “Neat Method” which employs various color-coded containers and labeling for sorting and display. The KonMari method from Japan instructs organizers to ask themselves if their items still spark joy in them, and if not, to release the belongings with gratitude. And, yet another approach has risen in popularity, this time from Sweden, known as “döstädning,” or the translated “death cleaning,” which seeks to reduce clutter and stress from an aging person’s home and life.

While it may sound severe, the idea of döstädning is actually a very thoughtful and respectful exercise for both the individual and their loved ones. Contrary to KonMari, which centers on the individual’s attachment to their possessions, this approach asks how family and survivors will feel about the items left behind after a loved one’s death. Margareta Magnussen, author of “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning,” explains how employing döstädning can streamline an individual’s space and create a peaceful environment in which they can focus on what matters to them at that stage of life. The process of sorting and gifting belongings and communicating with family and friends about what they would like to have can often bring loved ones closer together, and may minimize the future burden on family members, allowing them to focus on grieving rather than a large clean-out project.

For those interested in the process of döstädning, professionals recommend the following:

  1. Tell your family about this process you are undertaking, what you hope to get out of the experience and ask them what items they would like to inherit from you.
  2. Start with your clothing and closets, sorting through what does and does not fit and what can be donated to charity.
  3. Declutter furniture, décor, and household items by room and then size, gifting functional pieces to family and friends and donating the rest.
  4. Address digital information and share details for important vendors such as your bank and insurance provider to your next of kin.
  5. Take stock of valuable jewelry and heirlooms and communicate with your insurance provider regarding appropriate coverage. Next, give some thought to who you will leave these items to and make those wishes apparent in your documents.
  6. Gather your paperwork and leave clear instructions regarding your will, advance health directive, power of attorney and any other related documents to your intended survivors.

While it may seem like a big undertaking, döstädning can give practitioners the chance to find memory and meaning in their possessions, as well as a sense of lightness and contentment when they let them go.

To connect with a client relationship manager, email info@vcmi.net.

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