Setting up Fido for life after (your) death
By Barry A. Densa • Bankrate.com

We love to pamper our pets. From doggy bags and designer duds to pet psychologists and psychics, Americans take seriously the welfare and comforts of their furred and feathered friends. In fact, we spend over $8 billion annually just at the vet.

The latest entry in the "I love you so much that ... " gesture: Pet owners can bequeath, legally and with due process, their worldly estates to Fido, Whiskers or Tweety.

Pet trusts have arrived!

More than a friend
Most pet owners consider their animal as family. For some, a pet is their only family and they want to ensure that their pets, who have given them love and loyalty, are taken care of.

Not recognized nationally, yet
This eccentric, benevolent phenomenon is growing in popularity. Thirty-five states, and District of Columbia, have enacted full or partial consideration to the legality of pet trusts. Two states, California and Wisconsin, permit pet trusts but will not enforce them.

The primary stumbling block to the legal viability of pet trusts resides in what is commonly known as "the rule against perpetuity." The rule forbids trusts that last forever. Typically, states require pet trust money to be paid out within 21 years or, in some cases, upon the death of the last living animal covered by the trust. The rules were enacted to limit the abilities of the wealthy from becoming perpetual financial royalty.

Certain statutes have smoothed the way for pets to be recognized and protected by the legal system. Section 2-907 of the Uniform Probate Code, added in 1993, allows for a pet trust to be enforced by a designated person or for the courts to appoint one. Section 408 of the Uniform Trust Code adopted in 2000, allows for the same thing in states that enact the statute. Prior to 1993 naming a pet as a beneficiary was basically laughable but has since gained widespread acceptance.

Many states though are changing their rules against perpetuities, either doing away with them or making pet trusts an exception.

To find out whether your state allows pet trusts to be established and enforced, contact your state's attorney general or the local chapter of the Humane Society of the United States.

By the numbers ... pets and their masters

$36.3 billion annual amount spent on pets $14.7 billion amount spent on food for pets in 2005 $8.7 billion amount spent on vet care in 2005 $100 average amount pet owners spent on holiday pet gifts 43.5 million homes with a dog 37.7 million homes with cats 14.7 billion homes with a fish 6.4 million homes with a bird 79% of pet owners whose pet sleeps with them 37% of pet owners who carry pictures of their pets in their wallet 31% of pet owners who have taken off work to be with ailing pets 20% of pet owners who admit breaking up a romance over a pet dispute

Pets born with a silver collar
Common folks aren't the only ones leaving estates for their family pets.

Tobacco heiress Doris Duke left $100,000 in trust for her dog.

Actress Betty White, who played Rose on TV's "Golden Girls," is leaving her estimated $5 million estate to her animals.

And British singer Dusty Springfield, who scored on the pop charts here and abroad with such hits as "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" and "Wishin' and Hopin'," stipulated that her cat Nicolas was to listen to her recordings each night at bedtime, to have his sleeping area lined with Dusty's nightgown and to be fed only imported baby food.