Dog left by mother

Xhale_2

Can expenses for vet fees be claimed from estate? The situation is that my lovely mum died in March with no will. She also pre-deceased her lovely little dog. My brother kindly took responsibility for her no one else wanted to. He earns very little money and she became very ill. He has paid vet fees for her and there is money in an account which will soon be divided between the siblings but the person doing the probate doesn't feel it's reasonable to pay the fees. He is now left very short for his living expenses. None of the siblings would object to it apart from the person administering the estate.

chris_n_tj

First of all I am sorry for your loss.
For what its worth I would want the money to be taken from my estate if it was me. Ask your siblings if they would mind putting it in writing and present it to the person holding the "purse strings"

ognum

Was the dog left to anyone in the will? If not then it would be justifiable to pay expenses from the estate.

Xhale_2

Thanks CHRIS that's a good idea

Xhale_2

Hi ognum, mum didn't leave a will but made it clear my youngest brother and her dog were the main concern

valk_scot

Could the siblings chip in now for the fees, given that the estate will soon be divided up between them anyway?

Also, is the dog insured by any chance? I'm not sure if pet insurance can be transferred in the event of the owner's death but if there has been insurance then it's worth checking.

Errata

It's a difficult situation. I suppose if someone died without a will but made clear for example they wanted their car to go to X and all the other beneficiaries agreed to that, then it couldn't reasonably be expected that if the car needed a new engine immediately the estate would foot the bill.
I appreciate it's a dog, not a car.

Xhale_2

So far me and another sister have chipped in a bit but its more about my brother keeping his dignity and not needing to ask/struggle. I appreciate your point Errata but a dog is a living being. I wonder if there is any actual law to back it up?

meritaten

no if they died intestate there would be no provision for the dog - but, there is nothing stopping the heirs from making provision for it jointly.

Mojisola

Xhale wrote: »

So far me and another sister have chipped in a bit but its more about my brother keeping his dignity and not needing to ask/struggle.

Would it help your brother to preserve his dignity if all the siblings got together and said - Mum would have wanted us all to help look after her dog but brother is going to keep him/her with him so we need to do our share by helping with the costs.

If your brother could see that he's doing his share by looking after the dog and the rest of you are doing your bit by covering the expenses, he may feel better about it.

One of my friends took on an elderly cat that the owner couldn't keep but the ex-owner continued to pay the vet bills.

Alternatively, all of you could ask the administrator to do a deed of variation so that a lump sum is given to your brother to cover the future costs of the dog and then the remainder of the estate is divided between the siblings.

Errata

will

Xhale wrote: »

So far me and another sister have chipped in a bit but its more about my brother keeping his dignity and not needing to ask/struggle. I appreciate your point Errata but a dog is a living being. I wonder if there is any actual law to back it up?

I can't think of any law, perhaps someone else can. I hope you can sort it out within the family. It would be worth discussing how the dog's insurance cover will be funded, as depending on the dog's illness and age it might be out of brother's financial reach. If nobody else can pay for insurance cover then the financial burden for the brother will arise if the dog is ill again and needs expensive treatment at the vets.