Pet care directive for Pennsylvania
A pet care directive names the person who takes your animals in and records what you want done for them.
$9, or $5 for a second household member ($14 for both). Includes 6 months of changes.
What you pay counts in full toward a package.
Who this is for
- You have an animal whose care nobody else currently knows.
- Your dog or cat would outlive you and you want that planned rather than improvised.
- You have an animal with a medical routine that would be lost in a handover.
- You have a horse, a parrot or another animal whose care is expensive or long-lived.
What it does not do
- It is a directive, not a trust. It names a caregiver and records your wishes; setting money aside in a trust for an animal is a separate arrangement, and if that is what you want you should say so in your will or trust.
- It cannot force anyone to take an animal. Ask the person first.
- It has no effect on where the animal goes while you are alive and able to decide.
How to sign it in your state
Pennsylvania
Pet Care Directive
Sign with two disinterested witnesses as the package's authenticity safeguard.
- Witnesses: 2, and they must be present at the signing.
- Notary: optional, unless the printed signing page says otherwise.
New York
Pet Care Directive
Sign with two disinterested witnesses as the package's authenticity safeguard.
- Witnesses: 2, and they must be present at the signing.
- Notary: optional, unless the printed signing page says otherwise.
New Jersey
Pet Care Directive
Sign with two disinterested witnesses as the package's authenticity safeguard.
- Witnesses: 2, and they must be present at the signing.
- Notary: optional, unless the printed signing page says otherwise.
Get started
Animals fall through the gaps in an estate plan because the law treats them as property and the people who love them do not. This document is the fix: a named caregiver, a named successor, and enough detail that the handover does not lose the medication schedule.
Be clear-eyed about the money. If the animal is expensive to keep, name the caregiver here and leave them a gift in your will, or set up a trust for it. A directive with nothing behind it asks somebody to absorb a cost they may not be able to carry.
Common questions
Is this a pet trust?
No, and the page says so rather than letting the search phrase do the work. A pet trust holds money for an animal's care and needs a trustee. This document names a caregiver and records the care you want. If you want funding, put a gift to the caregiver in your will or use the trust.
Will the person have to take my animal?
No. Nobody can be forced to accept an animal. That is why asking first, and naming a successor, is the whole job.
Should I leave money too?
Many people leave a modest gift to the caregiver in their will to cover food and veterinary care. That gift belongs in the will, not in this document.
What if I have several animals?
List them individually with their needs. Naming a different home for one of them is fine and is better done explicitly.
Does it need witnesses?
Two disinterested adult witnesses is the route this document uses. Notarisation is optional unless the printed signing page says otherwise.
Included in
- Will & Essentials, $69 for 18 documents, 55% less than buying the pieces. See what is in it
- Trust & Property, $129 for 28 documents, 57% less than buying the pieces. See what is in it