Pet Guardianship Agreement

Download or read book Pet Guardianship Agreement written by Michael E. Byczek and published by Michael E. Byczek. This book was released on 2024-05-20 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It’s common for “pawrents” to worry about losing their pets after a long happy life. What happens if they lose you first? Who will care for your pets upon your death or during a medical emergency when you are unable to care for them yourself? A Pet Guardianship Agreement is a legal document, similar to a Will, that allows you to explain your wishes for who shall take responsibility for your pets. The document is just for pets with far more detailed instructions than would appear in a standard Will. If your pets are family, you don’t want to leave their future to chance and hope for the best. You should not hope. You should plan. A Pet Guardianship Agreement is for your pets about their future when you are gone. Most people don’t like thinking about death or making such plans. However, it’s too late once you are dead and your pets are left without an owner or home. Included with this package are Illinois specific documents: Instructions Nine-page Pet Guardianship Agreement (each page is signed, but not notarized) Fifteen-page Notarized Pet Guardianship Agreement (each page is individually notarized) One-page Self Proving Affidavit (required for the witnesses to notarize, which is separate from the Guardianship Agreement) One-page Notarized Pet Owner Affidavit (an optional affidavit for you, the owner, to notarize) One-page Notarized Pet Guardianship Agreement Summary (an optional affidavit for you and each guardian to notarize) While only valid for Illinois residents, anybody can use this information to learn the legal requirements of Pet Guardianship and use the documents as a template to write your own version. You may also modify these documents to suit your preferences. You don’t need to be an attorney to write your own legal documents, just make sure the final version is accurate and valid. You may trust your friends and family today, but this is not always the case after a person’s death while your family is fighting in Probate Court with your pets being the subject of decisions made by a Judge with an outcome that you may never have approved. You don’t want your beloved pets thrown onto the street or abandoned in a shelter. The goal is to have both a Will and a Pet Guardianship Agreement where the two estate plan documents complement, not contradict, each other. The Pet Guardianship Agreement enhances the basic provision in the Will about your pets by providing detailed information. Also included is a brief tutorial for artificial intelligence writing your Pet Guardianship Agreement without an attorney using AI chatbot platforms (ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini). The author, Michael E. Byczek, has been a licensed Illinois attorney since 2007 (Chicago, IL). He manages his own legal business (https://byczeklaw.com) and has assisted clients to prepare their estate plans and protect the rights of heirs during probate in court.