{"id":22144,"date":"2018-02-20T08:00:13","date_gmt":"2018-02-20T14:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resource-center.hrblock.com\/newsroom\/a-legacy-for-lassie-pet-trusts-and-income-taxes\/"},"modified":"2023-03-01T13:03:02","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T19:03:02","slug":"pet-wills-and-trusts","status":"publish","type":"newsroom","link":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/","title":{"rendered":"A legacy for Lassie: Pet trusts and income taxes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Ever see a millionaire cat? What about a poodle owning a Porsche? Well, that might not be too far off now that all 50 states have \u201cpet trust\u201d laws that let owners provide for the care of their pets, after the owner dies. Minnesota became <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mprnews.org\/story\/2016\/05\/19\/legislature-passes-animal-trust-legislation\">the final state<\/a> to pass such legislation in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>But in some states \u2013 and social circles \u2013 leaving legacies to four-legged friends is nothing new. Among the ranks? The rich and famous, like real estate magnate Leona Helmsley \u2013 aka the \u201cQueen of Mean.\u201d She \u201cleft $12 million in trust for the care of her beloved Maltese, Trouble,\u201d according to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/thebark.com\/content\/pet-trusts\">TheBark.com<\/a>, a website for dog lovers.<\/p>\n<p>But Helmsley wasn\u2019t alone. According to\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/usatoday30.usatoday.com\/news\/nation\/2002-08-15-pettrust_x.htm\">USA TODAY.com<\/a>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cTobacco heiress Doris Duke left $100,000 to her dog, Rodeo.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cActress Betty White is reported to leave all of her $5 million estate to her pets.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>British singer Dusty Springfield arranged for her cat, Nicholas, to get \u201ca lifetime supply of his favorite meal, imported baby food.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>First pet trusts, then pet taxes<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cTaxpayers often have general conversations with tax professionals about trusts or wills,\u201d says Jackie Perlman, principal tax research analyst at The Tax Institute at H&amp;R Block.<\/p>\n<p>Setting up a trust is a legal process, best performed by an attorney. Now residents of all 50 states have a legal way to provide for their pets after their death, which gives them a formalized and consistent way to treat this type of trust according to their state\u2019s rules. States may have limitations on how much money can be set aside for the care of a pet as well as other restrictions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrusts can have very complex rules, whether they\u2019re for a pet or a more traditional beneficiary. As with any trust, taxpayers should consult a qualified trust attorney to make sure when they\u2019re planning for their pets\u2019 care. Some issues to take into account are: who will care for their pet, how the money will be used, and who will be the trustee of the trust and handle any tax filing requirements\u201d said Perlman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ever see a millionaire cat? What about a poodle owning a Porsche? Well, that might not be too far off now that all 50 states have \u201cpet trust\u201d laws that let owners provide for the care of their pets, after the owner dies. Minnesota became the final state to pass such legislation in 2016. But [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":24819,"menu_order":0,"template":"","tags":[],"news-categories":[23360],"class_list":["post-22144","newsroom","type-newsroom","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-categories-income"],"acf":{"post_rest_thumbnail_alt_id":null},"yoast_head":"<title>Tax answers on pet wills and trusts | H&amp;R Block Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn about the trust laws that have passed legislation in all 50 states that enable tax payers to leave their estate to their pets.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A legacy for Lassie: Pet trusts and income taxes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn about the trust laws that have passed legislation in all 50 states that enable tax payers to leave their estate to their pets.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"H&amp;R Block\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-01T19:03:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/puppies-1080x675.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hrblock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/\",\"name\":\"Tax answers on pet wills and trusts | H&R Block Newsroom\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/puppies.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-20T14:00:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-01T19:03:02+00:00\",\"description\":\"Learn about the trust laws that have passed legislation in all 50 states that enable tax payers to leave their estate to their pets.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/puppies.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/puppies.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1200},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Newsroom Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"A legacy for Lassie: Pet trusts and income taxes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/\",\"name\":\"H&amp;R Block\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tax answers on pet wills and trusts | H&R Block Newsroom","description":"Learn about the trust laws that have passed legislation in all 50 states that enable tax payers to leave their estate to their pets.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A legacy for Lassie: Pet trusts and income taxes","og_description":"Learn about the trust laws that have passed legislation in all 50 states that enable tax payers to leave their estate to their pets.","og_url":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/","og_site_name":"H&amp;R Block","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock","article_modified_time":"2023-03-01T19:03:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/puppies-1080x675.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@hrblock","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/","url":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/","name":"Tax answers on pet wills and trusts | H&R Block Newsroom","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/puppies.jpg","datePublished":"2018-02-20T14:00:13+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-01T19:03:02+00:00","description":"Learn about the trust laws that have passed legislation in all 50 states that enable tax payers to leave their estate to their pets.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/puppies.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/puppies.jpg","width":1600,"height":1200},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/income\/pet-wills-and-trusts\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Newsroom Articles","item":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"A legacy for Lassie: Pet trusts and income taxes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/","name":"H&amp;R Block","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsroom\/22144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsroom"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/newsroom"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsroom\/22144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22144"},{"taxonomy":"news-categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-categories?post=22144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}