You now have the option to have your pet cremated and keep the ashes in an urn at home.
A recent trend is for people to treat their pets just like any other member of their family. It is no longer just a dog or a cat. Your pet is a beloved member of your family, due the same consideration as any other member of your family.
While not everyone sees their pets in this way, more and more people do.
That has implications not just for how pets are treated in life, but also how they are treated in death.
For example, there is now a growing trend for funeral homes to offer cremation for pets as PA reports in “Pet Cremation Industry Gains Popularity.”
For the relative small price of a few hundred dollars, people can have their pets cremated. The price normally includes an urn to hold the ashes, which people can take home with them.
Perhaps more important than what will be done with your pet when it passes away, is what will be done with your pet when you pass away.
Your pet cannot get a job to support itself. You might treat it like any other human family member, but it is not that human.
Therefore, if you want to make sure that your pet is taken care of, you need to make plans. There are several different ways that you can do so in an estate plan.
You can designate someone to take care of your pet and set money aside for that purpose. You can even create a pet trust with your pet as the beneficiary.
If you want to make sure your beloved pet is taken care of after you pass away, then talk to an estate planning attorney about how to do that.
Reference: PA (June 23, 2017) “Pet Cremation Industry Gains Popularity.”
