Provision in will for vets bills?

muddlingmywaythrough

Firstly apologies if this is in the wrong section, if someone knows of a better place to post this let me know.

My elderly friend has asked me if I will look after her dog if she passes away before he does because she knows I love him to bits and she doesn't want him to end up in a dogs home or shelter. I am more than happy to do this and told her so. However the financial side of this arrangement does worry me a bit as I know how expensive vet fees can be. He is a typical 'mutt' and very hardy so I don't think there will be any major health issues (though obviously it is a possibility). He had a couple of fatty (benign) lumps removed recently and that alone cost £800 😲 so I am a bit worried about the cost of any vet bills. I looked at pet insurance and the premiums were quite high as he is an older dog (about 8 we think - he's a rescue so we don't know for sure) and because he is so tough even my friend said she wouldn't pay out for insurance. 

My question is (though obviously this depends on my friend agreeing) - would it be possible for her to add something in her will basically leaving X amount of money that the solicitor can keep hold of but can be released to pay vet bills? Obviously I would provide proof of what's needed and to be clear I don't want the money and it would be solely for the dog. My friend is very, very tight with her money (though she is comfortable financially) and she can be very suspicious whenever money is involved (not with me personally but just generally) so I don't know how to raise the idea without causing bad feeling.

maisie_cat

I think my sister has the creation of a cat care Trust in her will. When the cats die the residue to cats protection. 

Keep_pedalling

Perfectly possible, but it would be a lot simpler to leave you a fixed sum of money rather than put it in the hands of a solicitor where it will sit in a client account earning no interest and wound incur fees.

muddlingmywaythrough

Keep_pedalling said:

Perfectly possible, but it would be a lot simpler to leave you a fixed sum of money rather than put it in the hands of a solicitor where it will sit in a client account earning no interest and wound incur fees.

Yes I did think this but I know that she won't be happy to leave me the money directly. Again to be clear it's not me personally and I'm her power of attorney so there's no issue with trust, she's just really funny about money 

kimwp

If she trusts you to look after her dog, she should leave some money to you for looking after him. If she wants any excess money to go to someone else, then she can ask you to do that. Personally, if I trusted someone to look after my pets, I would leave them more than enough money and it wouldn't have to just go on the pets - if you ended up in financial hardship, the pets might have to go to the rescue.

Emmia

muddlingmywaythrough said:

Keep_pedalling said:

Perfectly possible, but it would be a lot simpler to leave you a fixed sum of money rather than put it in the hands of a solicitor where it will sit in a client account earning no interest and wound incur fees.

Yes I did think this but I know that she won't be happy to leave me the money directly. Again to be clear it's not me personally and I'm her power of attorney so there's no issue with trust, she's just really funny about money 

When she's dead though, she won't be able to spend it. I think the great mistake people make is trying to overly control their money/things and how it is spent/used after they're gone. Make a will to the best of your intentions, but accept that no one knows what the future holds and your money/things may not be spent/used as you would like 

If the intention is that you take on the dog, after she dies I don't think it is unreasonable for some money to be left to you notionally for it's care.

Browntoa

Explain that having a 3rd party hold any funds for the pets care is likely to be expensive ( solicitors time) and what would happen if an emergency occurred at a weekend ( unable to get funds released quickly) .

She needs to trust you with funds , suggest a joint account in both your names that she can keep an eye on , on her death it automatically becomes the asset of the remaining account holder . Gives her peace of mind, gives you security in an easy manner 

user1977

Who's getting the rest of her estate? Paying another professional to be involved every time there's a vet bill is only likely to double the cost of any treatment...

Marcon

Keep_pedalling said:

Perfectly possible, but it would be a lot simpler to leave you a fixed sum of money rather than put it in the hands of a solicitor where it will sit in a client account earning no interest and wound incur fees.

It does earn interest. 

Rule 7 of SRA Accounts Rules says: 'You account to clients or third parties for a fair sum of interest on any client money held by you on their behalf.'

sheramber

A friend arranged for the care of her pets after her death and allocated some money to them for any costs involved in their care, not just vet fees but food also. 

I don’t know the details of how much each person got- their were 2 cats and 2 dogs. 

muddlingmywaythrough

Thank you for all the replies. I did speak to my friend about this and asked her if she could put some money by and she said she would "think about it". She said she doesn't want to change her will as it would cost her money, so I said that's fine but I would struggle to afford vets fees if they are needed. I also emphasised that I don't want her money (to which she said she knows that) and if it's not needed then I would want it formally arranged that it can be shared amongst her grandchildren (in response to a question raised, her estate is to be split between her grandchildren).

I'll be honest, she didn't seem keen on the idea but I've done what I can for now.