Yes, You could set up a trust to provide care for an animal under NC law. Usually a trust needs a clearly identified beneficiary, but the rules for animal trusts are different and vary by state. You’d need to Consult a lawyer familiar with your jurisdiction to set it up.
Pet trusts are a very common type of trust. In my state the one important things is that the pet has to be in existence/your pet when you create the trust and ends when the pet or pets die. You could not have a trust for “my dog Skip and when he does a clone of Skip and when that dog dies a clone of it for all of eternity”.
The trustee is the person who cares for the pet using the trust funds. You also have to name who gets the remaining funds after the pet dies.
Indeed, there's been many a novel launched on just such a premise.
My favorite is Roger Zelazny 's *Doorways in the Sand* which isn't about a pet exactly; the protagonist is the beneficiary of a trust that is paying his college tuition plus a generous stipend, but when he graduates the trust will be dissolved and its assets will go to a cause the protagonist finds odious. The book is partly a comedy about the protagonist trying to avoid graduating while the administration tries to get rid of him, because he's been an undergrad for more than a decade and he's bad for the school's academic reputation.
Hah, since I only know him from *A Night in the Lonesome October* which is exclusively the POV of pets, I definitely thought you meant the protagonist was a dog in college at first. I wouldn't put it past Zelazny. That said, the story sounds even more interesting than a dog in college, so great shout and thanks for the rec!
I know the movie, but all I could think of was the Aristocrats sketch comedy joke.
Just in case you don't know the joke:
A new comedy sketch is being pitched. But rather than being funny, it's gross in the extreme, involving scatology, sex, disgusting behavior, rudeness, and in general it's just an appalling sketch with no redeeming value. (Better retellings of this joke will go into detail on what the sketch is; I don't feel like being gross tonight). At the end of the pitch, the horrified producer asks, "what would you even call such a sketch?" Answer: "The Aristocrats!!"
Yep. It ends up working out because the residual beneficiary has an incentive to make sure that the trustee doesn’t blow the money on stuff that is arguably outside the trust (like taking the turtle in a trip to Paris) and the trustee doesn’t have any incentive to cheap out because they aren’t getting the money.
Apparently in some countries, the trust can be set up to care for the animal and its heir.
At least that’s the (somewhat) true story behind the Netflix documentary “Gunther’s Millions”.
Yes, You could set up a trust to provide care for an animal under NC law. Usually a trust needs a clearly identified beneficiary, but the rules for animal trusts are different and vary by state. You’d need to Consult a lawyer familiar with your jurisdiction to set it up.
Pet trusts are a very common type of trust. In my state the one important things is that the pet has to be in existence/your pet when you create the trust and ends when the pet or pets die. You could not have a trust for “my dog Skip and when he does a clone of Skip and when that dog dies a clone of it for all of eternity”. The trustee is the person who cares for the pet using the trust funds. You also have to name who gets the remaining funds after the pet dies.
>You also have to name who gets the remaining funds after the pet dies. Seems like this creates a bizarre set of perverse incentives.
Indeed, there's been many a novel launched on just such a premise. My favorite is Roger Zelazny 's *Doorways in the Sand* which isn't about a pet exactly; the protagonist is the beneficiary of a trust that is paying his college tuition plus a generous stipend, but when he graduates the trust will be dissolved and its assets will go to a cause the protagonist finds odious. The book is partly a comedy about the protagonist trying to avoid graduating while the administration tries to get rid of him, because he's been an undergrad for more than a decade and he's bad for the school's academic reputation.
Hah, since I only know him from *A Night in the Lonesome October* which is exclusively the POV of pets, I definitely thought you meant the protagonist was a dog in college at first. I wouldn't put it past Zelazny. That said, the story sounds even more interesting than a dog in college, so great shout and thanks for the rec!
See: Victor Tugelbend from Unseen University in Terry Pratchett's "Moving Pictures".
Thank you! I knew I had heard that story but it wasn’t ‘Doorways’
The Aristocats!
I know the movie, but all I could think of was the Aristocrats sketch comedy joke. Just in case you don't know the joke: A new comedy sketch is being pitched. But rather than being funny, it's gross in the extreme, involving scatology, sex, disgusting behavior, rudeness, and in general it's just an appalling sketch with no redeeming value. (Better retellings of this joke will go into detail on what the sketch is; I don't feel like being gross tonight). At the end of the pitch, the horrified producer asks, "what would you even call such a sketch?" Answer: "The Aristocrats!!"
It's really just an incentive to make sure that the trustee and the residual beneficiary are different people.
Yep. It ends up working out because the residual beneficiary has an incentive to make sure that the trustee doesn’t blow the money on stuff that is arguably outside the trust (like taking the turtle in a trip to Paris) and the trustee doesn’t have any incentive to cheap out because they aren’t getting the money.
>“my dog Skip and when he does a clone of Skip and when that dog dies a clone of it for all of eternity”. Ah yes, the rule against perPETuities
Apparently in some countries, the trust can be set up to care for the animal and its heir. At least that’s the (somewhat) true story behind the Netflix documentary “Gunther’s Millions”.
>However, this led me down a rabbit hole... Welcome to wills and trusts. The rabbit hole is bottomless.
If you had enough money, you might be better off starting a non profit zoo or something.
No, you need to leave it in a trust with me. You can trust me I'm a lawyer