I sold my farmette a while ago and boarded. Hated it. I bought a small place and have my horses home again.
Everything is paid for and I’m healthy right now. I think a lot about who to leave everything to in order to make sure my animals are ok. I have no siblings that are interested and they would probably sell the place, take the money and wouldn’t care about the animals even though I have money put aside for their care.
There are no local therapeutic riding places so that’s not an option.
I was wondering what other people in my situation are doing.
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Assuming I’ll outlive my SO, my plan is to just stay involved in the local horse community and try to connect with (mentor?) a younger person in the community. I have been very lucky with experienced horse people who made experiences possible for me that otherwise would not have been possible for me, so I’d like to pay it forward. Not sure there will be a lot of money (TBD lol) but hopefully there will be nice horses, a truck/trailer/maybe even a horse property, who knows. I’d rather my things go to someone who will appreciate them and take care of any animals I have left at the end of my life.
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distribution to my favorite charities; A land trust, an urban cat rescue, World Kitchen and my local food bank.
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I know of a woman who willed her horses to a close friend - the story was very sad but I thought the idea was beautiful. Do you have any friends you ride with or boarding-buddies you trust?
Years ago there was a boarder at a farm I worked for who set up a trust that essentially had the horse as a beneficiary through either the BO or the vet - I don’t remember specifics. When she died, the money from her estate funded him for the rest of his life. Anything left when he died went to charities, AFAIK. I don’t know the specifics/legalities, I just remember asking why I’d never met his owner and that was when I learned that she predeceased him.
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I have my farm set up in a trust w a good friend who is much younger than I as the beneficiary.
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Figure out who you would want to get the animals (doesn’t have to be a family member), make sure they’re on board, and write it into the will along with money for their care. Also consider that it wouldn’t necessarily need to be local as long as the animals are in good health for the trip.
Some people also make arrangements for euthanasia. If your animals are older or have any issues or you worry about what may happen to them, this may be the kindest thing.
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I only have 2 acres, it’s near the town hall, library, and FD. They would be happy to expand onto my property at some point. I would LOVE to figure out a way to keep my property out of this town’s hands when I die if I’m the last in line. Nothing would make me happier than to have it tied up permanently so they couldn’t get their greedy paws on it like the did with a poor elderly soul years ago. Yeah, I know I won’t be aware of it when it happens but it would give me great satisfaction between now and the hereafter.
My horses will be care for and or euth’d, whichever is appropriate at the time. Person chosen and aware. Money set aside.
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My dad’s girlfriend has a trust set up for any funds left in her inventments to go to my dad should she go first, then to the humane society after he passes. Their house goes to me.
My DH and I have arranged for our investments / home to go to a friend of our’s teenager. We do not have kids either. Any animals depending on age will be euth’ed and cremated and placed with me and I will be cremated as well as my other dogs and cats from my past.
Teenager will be better off with some additional padding since her dad is out of the picture.
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put the land into a conservation easement which is a voluntary, legal agreement that permanently limits uses of the land in order to protect its conservation values.
When my city was looking into extending a street through our pasture they did ask me I just told them they would not be fighting me but would have hell from the Audubon Society as I would donate that proposed right a way to them as an inner-city bird sanctuary… road was never built
there a sizeable tracks set aside where I grew up that will be forever farms
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You could put an easement on it that renders the land relatively useless (so the town wouldn’t want it). A conservation easement of some KIND, in perpetuity.
(damn you auto correct.)
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Thank you!
Thanks clanter!
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I inherited my (since passed) horse from a very close friend. I leased him for two years, and became very close with his owner during that time. During our friendship she asked me if I would take her horse in the event anything ever happened to her, and I said yes, thinking she would outlive me, and the horse. Less than a year later she became ill and passed away very suddenly and had in fact documented that the horse be left to me. He had a small “trust fund”, that I kept as his emergency fund and was able to afford his regular upkeep on my own. We had many incredible adventures together and I am grateful for her friendship and her gift every day. Our story actually ended up in COTH a few years ago! He is the chestnut. image|666x500
Anyway. My suggestion in all of this is to pick a trusted person who you would want to share your animals with. Did I do everything exactly the way his owner would have done them? No. But I would NEVER have considered selling him or skimping on his needed care at any point. His welfare was always a priority and I think that’s what is most important when considering a permanent caretaker.
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I luckily have some close friends who would either take my remaining two horses if something happened to me or at least make sure they ended up in a good home. One is 19 and one is 21, both are currently leased out. I specifically took out a life insurance policy when I had four horses with the idea that it would be split among whoever took a horse to pay for their upkeep.
We have four horses ages with the youngest 13 and the oldest mid-20’s. If I outlive my wife, my will specifies the horses are to be euthanized. I won’t take the chance that they would end up in a bad situation.
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Just a note on leaving a house/property to a charitable organization. My DH and I have no kids or close family, and no friends or younger people in our lives that would need a large farm. We met with the planned giving office at my alma mater thinking we might give it to them and they could use it as a retreat space/home base for students doing field study, etc. They graciously explained to us that most organizations who are willed properties/homes don’t have the capacity or money to take on upkeep in perpetuity, and the value in it for them would be to have the proceeds once it was sold. The college indicated it could be left to them directly, with the understanding that they would sell it and keep the proceeds, so we felt it would be easier to have the estate handle the sale after our death, and then distribute proceeds to several organizations that are important to us.
So we had all this documented to indicate that the house would be sold (proceeds to a series of nonprofits, including alma mater) and most of the surrounding land put in conservation.
