The pet owner may simply make a gift (either in a will or a revocable living trust) of the pet and the caretaking funds to the intended caretaker.  This approach may be entirely appropriate in situations where the caretaker is very trustworthy, the amount of caretaking funds involved is relatively small, or it is highly unlikely that the pet will outlive both the pet owner and the caretaker.

If this is the case, the pet owner should consider imposing a condition upon the gift of the caretaking funds – that the funds will actually be used for the care of the pet.  To be sure, it is practically unlikely that a condition of this type may be enforced after the estate has been distributed, but for what it is worth, it does impose a moral obligation.

Furthermore, the pet owner should explicitly indicate whether the condition is a “condition precedent” (i.e., the caretaker does not receive the funds unless the pet outlives the pet owner) or a “condition subsequent” (i.e., the caretaker receives the funds regardless of whether the pet outlives the pet owner).  If the sole purpose of including an express gift in the estate planning document is to provide for the care of the pet, then the pet owner would probably prefer the former.

Finally, many of the pet trust statutes provide that a gift will be liberally construed to impose a statute pet trust upon the caretaker (as discussed previously).  If this result is not intended, then the drafter should prepare a provision that to expressly remove the conditional gift from the statutory scheme.  (See Sample Language for Conditional Bequest to Caretaker.)