By Reuters  January 6, 2017

It is a sad story when seniors’ pets show up at an animal shelter: they are often abandoned when their owners become infirm or die without insuring that the pets will be taken in by someone else.

Wills and estate plans are hard enough for most people to fathom. Only 67 percent of Americans over 55 have any sort of written testament, according to FindLaw, a unit of Thomson Reuters.

Legal planning for pets is rare.

That is because provisions for pets are considered a fancy of the ultra-rich. Much of the negative association is due to the 2007 lawsuit over real estate tycoon Leona Helmsley’s attempt to leave $12 million to her dog. (It was cut to $2 million.)
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