Steve Wartenberg
Pets provide millions of families with love, companionship and loyalty.
“I see people all the time who think of their pets as their children,” says Jay Michael, a Columbus attorney who specializes in estate planning and trusts.
In some cases, these “children” can outlive their pet parents. This is why a growing number of people, regardless of their net worth, leave money to their pets in their wills, or create a pet trust as part of the estate-planning process.
“It just makes a lot of sense, depending on the type of animal you have and how old you are,” says Geoffrey Kunkler, a Columbus attorney who specializes in estate planning. He has helped several clients create a trust for their pets. “I have a client with a bird whose life span is 50 or 60 years and will almost certainly outlive my client. So, they want to make sure their bird is well cared for.”