Firstly, it is important to be aware that it is not possible to make a specific 'gift' of any sort to any animal, whether that is a gift of a specific amount of money or a share of your residuary estate.

However, it is possible to do the following:

1. You can leave a conditional gift of a specific amount of money/ or a share of your residuary estate to a named person/ charity.

This is basically a gift of a specific amount of money to a person or charity on condition that they look after/ care/ rehome your pet. The Will and this clause in particular would be tailored to suit your particular wishes and you would need to explain your wishes and circumstances so we could adapt the clause to suit this to the extent that what you wished for would be possible in practice.

2. You can also leave an outright gift of a specific amount of money/ or a share of your residuary estate to a named person/ charity with ‘the wish that they rehome/ look after any dog that i own at the date of my death’ For example:-

This does not make the gift conditional but is an outright gift with a wish.

The clauses that we draft can of course be adapted to cover any animal but it is usually advisable to cover ‘any animal/ dog/ cat/ horse etc.’ owned at the date of my death rather than a specific named pet in case that specific named pet has predeceased and another pet bought to replace it.

Given the importance of the gift, it is always advisable to discuss this aspect with a Solicitor and ensure legal advice has been obtained. Your wishes can usually be catered for in the Will but a consultation with a Solicitor is usually needed.