Why One of Karl Lagerfeld’s Legacies Might be Estate Planning for Your Pet

This past week has seen the late Karl Lagerfeld’s Birman cat, Choupette, rise even higher in feline fame. As the fashion icon’s beloved pet, the cat had her own modelling career, coffee table book, and an Instagram boasting thousands of followers. She continues to prance in the spotlights now that people are openly debating a concern her owner’s death brought forward: the care of a pet after a person’s death.

68% of American households have pets, according to the National Pet Owners Survey. For many, a pet is more like a beloved child, and no parent would want to leave their child without a guardian. A pet trust is a relatively straightforward arrangement where a person leaves money for the care and maintenance of the pet, and name a trustee as well as a caregiver. The complication is having two people that share the goal of caring for someone else’s pet, but with Lagerfeld’s estate being so large, it does not appear that this will be an issue.

Choupette lived a life of luxury that many humans only dream of, so it is likely that if Lagerfeld did leave her a pet trust, it will be well stocked. Many owners also plan for loved ones to visit the animal after their owner’s passing. When the animal dies, many times the owner will plan for the remaining funds to pass to the caregiver, as a reward to taking such good care of the animal.

See Megan Gorman, Why One of Karl Lagerfeld’s Legacies Might be Estate Planning for Your Pet, Forbes, February 20, 2019.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.) for bringing this article to my attention.