# Can you leave it all to the cat?

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2005/11/13/can-you-leave-it-all-cat/
- Published: 2005-11-13T00:00:00+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Stories of people ieaving all their estate to their cat or dog are not true, according
to the Guardian. It’s not possible to bequeath an estate to an animal to spite one’s
relatives, although it is of course possible to leave it all to an animal charity.

The myth was featured in “101 thing you were afraid to ask about money”, a regular
column in Saturday’s Money supplement of The Guardian.Leaving money to an animal
is not a legally possible act, it seems. An animal-loving person could however leave
their money to an animal charity, and ask the charity to look after the animal after
the owner’s death. Indeed, between two and three per cent of wills include a provision
for an animal.

Various animal charities take advantage of this situation by encouraging this approach.
The PDSA offers “peace of mind” arrangements to look after donors’ pets. It says
its average legacy is worth £20,000. The RSPCA is this month launching its

Home for Life scheme in which it undertakes to look after donors’ pets or rehome
them. The charity says that it receives 60% of its income from legacies.

## Advertisement

 [⌊Posthub advert. You create the campaign. We'll handle the postal journey. Get started at post-hub.co.uk.⌉](https://fundraising.co.uk/ads/posthub-20261007-300x250/)

Anyone desperate to cut relatives out of the will and benefit their pet would probably
be better advised to leave money to someone prepared to look after the animal.

 * **[New quality mark for promotion of payroll giving schemes](https://fundraising.co.uk/2005/11/15/new-quality-mark-promotion-payroll-giving-schemes/)**(
   15 November 2005)
 * **[Essex County Council Grants deadline one month away](https://fundraising.co.uk/2005/11/16/essex-county-council-grants-deadline-one-month-away/)**(
   16 November 2005)
 * **[Government funds Institute of Fundraising to promote tax-effective giving](https://fundraising.co.uk/2005/11/17/government-funds-institute-fundraising-promote-taxeffective-giving/)**(
   17 November 2005)