There may be no consensus in Springfield on property tax reform or how to rein in the state budget, but members of the House of Representatives agreed on one thing Thursday–our pets should be taken care of, even after we die.
With a 116-0 vote, House members sent the governor a bill that would allow pet owners to establish binding trusts for Fido, Fluffy and an ark full of other animals.
Current Illinois law only allows people to set up trusts to benefit their human loved ones, but the measure sponsored by Rep. Terry Parke (R-Hoffman Estates) would extend that legal protection to dogs, cats, hamsters, parakeets, Gila monsters and any other pet.
If signed into law by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the measure would allow people to designate a caretaker, put aside money and direct how the money should be used if the animal outlives its human companion.
“A pet becomes a member of the family,” Parke said. “People worry and love their pets and they become very close.”
The bill shores up what some pet owners feel is a loophole in state law. Though people currently can make arrangements for a pet either informally or in a will, the actions are not legally binding in Illinois.
Lin Hanson, a Park Ridge attorney who helped draft the bill, said current law regards pets as property, and therefore ineligible to be the beneficiary of a trust.
“The law doesn’t distinguish between your collie and your fence post,” Hanson said.
He said the bill basically gives pet owners the same options parents have when deciding with whom they would leave their children in the event of an untimely death.
Several years after adopting her two Labrador retrievers, Pam Carey of Lake Forest began thinking about what would happen to her beloved pets if she and her husband died. She asked several friends if they would take on the responsibility of raising Coco and Amber and included in her will a provision that would give money to provide for their care. The bill could give legal teeth to that request, she said.
“I will definitely incorporate plans more formally and officially into my will,” Carey said. “They’re a very, very big part of my life.
Janice Brown, founder of the local advocacy magazine Chicagoland Tails, called the bill a sign of things to come. She said that, increasingly, people have looked at their pets as more than just an object or a possession.
“Before (the legislation), you could just leave money for your pet (in the care of someone), and that person could move to Tahiti with it,” Brown said. “I definitely think this is a step in the right direction.”
A spokesman for Blagojevich said the governor, who has no pets of his own, would take a close look at the bill but does not yet have a position.
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Hanson said that Illinois would become the 20th state to allow residents to include pet animals in their wills if the bill is signed.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the idea was a huge hit at the International Kennel Club dog show, which started Thursday at McCormick Place.
As owners blow-dried their dogs’ hair and buffed nails to a glossy shine, some said such a law was long overdue.
“I think that’s a damn good idea,” said John Kerr, 49, of McHenry as he primped his 18-month-old Irish red setter, Bentley. “I’ve talked about it before with my wife. It’s something that’s always in the back of your mind–what’s going to happen to my dog if I die?”
Others said they already had informal arrangements with friends or relatives.
Kent Meyer, 35, of Rockford has 12 dogs, six of which are entered in the dog show. All 12, he said, would go to his grandmother should he die.
“They don’t have a trust fund, but we don’t have children so I guess they’d get everything anyway,” Meyer said.
Some, like Jill and Darren Cahr of Chicago, have already put their pooches in their wills. Should the Cahrs die and leave Filbert behind, the 7-year-old black miniature poodle would go to their dog walker–along with $35,000 to pay for Filbert’s medicines and neurologist visits, treatment for the dog’s epilepsy.
“It’s no different than figuring out who would be the guardian of your kid,” said Jill Cahr, 38, who also has a 4-year-old son.
“The minute we had a dog, I started to worry about it,” Jill Cahr said. “I personally like the fact that the government is willing to recognize the relationship that people have with their pets and is honoring that relationship.”