Kim Bressant-Kibwe: Pet Protection Agreements & Pet Trusts for Your Dog

Many folks assume that shelter dogs have something wrong with them, and that’s why they are there. But it’s not true.

Some shelter dogs are there only because their owners died without making provisions for their care … and no one stepped up to take them in.

With almost a million dogs euthanized every year in U.S. shelters, that’s a LOT of beloved family members who lose their parent, then get sent to a shelter, are not adopted (because they are too old, or have a pre-existing illness) … and are euthanized.

Kim Bressant-Kibwe, former Trusts & Estates Counsel for the ASPCA, joins us to have a frank and enlightening discussion about what exactly should be done now – today – to protect our pets in an unfortunate future.

According to the latest estimates, about 57% of U.S. households include at least one pet. And yet, only 20-25% of Americans have wills in place … and few of those have provisions in place for their beloved animal family members.

Bressant-Kibwe gives tips on whether to use a will or a trust, how specific your trust should be, how to interrogate a trusts and estate lawyer to determine if they will be able to protect your darling, why microchipping helps prevent fraud, and more.

Her overall message is forceful and convincing: we should be having hard conversations with ourselves and our trusted loved ones today, to protect our furbabies tomorrow.

About Kim Bressant-Kibwe

As the Trusts & Estates Counsel for the ASPCA from 1999 to 2016, Bressant-Kibwe was responsible for the administration of all charitable gifts directed to the ASPCA from national and international donors via their wills, trusts and estates. A Cornell undergrad who went to Georgetown for law school, she’s a passionate animal lover and tireless advocate for their welfare.

https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/pet-planning/pet-trust-primer

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/pet-trusts.html

https://legacy.humanesociety.org/documents/h/humane-society-of-the-united-states/pets_in_wills_factsheet.pdf

https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/estate-planning-for-animal-lovers-pet-trusts-101

https://www.akcchf.org/how-to-help/donate/planned-giving/pet-trusts.html

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