Are We There Yet? Connecticut's Pet Trust Statute
Not quite there yet. Progress has been made, however. I previously blogged that in the Bill pending in the Senate had language requiring Probate Court approval of any Pet Trust. I was always negative on this language. Through discussion and hard work by several people, it is possible that language may be removed from the Bill.
Alternate language requiring any Pet Trust to have a trust protector may be inserted. Put simply, the trust protector is someone/somebody other than the trustee. The function of the trust protector is to ensure that the trustee is properly looking out for the pet(s). Increasingly, estate planners are using trust protectors in their trust agreements and it's particularly beneficial in the case of a Pet Trust where the pet beneficiary can not speak for itself.
So, the Bill is still pending in the Senate. It's on their calendar and hopefully will be amended as indicated above. Assuming it gets favorably voted out of the Senate, it will go to the House. All of this must happen before the Legislature adjourns on June 3, 2009. We're pushing! Let's hope we finally get it done.
