So what will happen to your fur-ball if you were to die?

by Joanne Skidmore

A few days ago, friends who just got a Samoyed (Maggie), asked if we would take Maggie if something happened to them. They had thought through who they could ask who would love and care for Maggie as "one of their own." They are far from "old" and yet they recognized that death can come at any time and that they needed to provide for all their loved one including fur-balls of every kind.

Without planning, your pets will be at the mercy of others to determine their fate. Sometimes they are fortunate and loved ones will take them in or find them loving homes. But that is not always the case. Does your family know what you would want for your fur-balls?

I happen to be a minister and I know how hard it is to get people to plan for their death. I am amazed at how many people don't have even a simple will to indicate who will be guardians for their children let alone what is to happen to their beloved pets. Perhaps you are among that group. If so, I want to encourage you to make out a will--if you are 70 or if you are 20. If you die without a will, your assets are divided according to state law (wherever you reside). Now, you may think the division would be simple--everything to spouse, then children and so forth. But I remember when we moved to Alaska and we learned what would happen to our assets if one of us died without a will--state law then gave one-third to spouse, one-third to children and one-third to the deceased person's parents. While I loved my in-laws, I would have been shocked to find I was giving a sizeable portion of our assets to them if my husband had died. And today, with blended families, it is even more complex. If you have children and die without a will and there is no other surviving parent or legal guardian, then it may well be that the state determines who your children go to.

Is it important to have a will? Absolutely. And if you have pets, you need to make arrangements for them and spell them out. We have in our wills who will get our dogs and the amount of money they will be given to help with future expenses. And as a back-up we are going to add in information about NISA, just in case someone thinks about taking them to the pound.

Back to our friends, when they asked, we said, "Of course!"

(Reprinted with Permission from the NISA Rescue ReviewÑMay, 2006)