Inheritance for your dog: How the rich put millions into trusts to take care of their pets after they die

• The rich can use trusts to devote millions to pets, art collections, and even cryogenic freezing.
• Sometimes they leave would-be heirs high and dry – and it’s perfectly legal.
• Lawyers to the uber-rich told Insider how purpose trusts work and how to plan for centuries ahead.

For animal lovers, pets can become the four-legged members of the family. With wealthy individuals, this can mean bestowing millions on their fur babies while leaving their children high and dry. Leona Helmsley, the late luxury hotelier, famously left $12 million in a trust for her pet Maltese named Trouble when she passed in 2007.

While trusts are a popular way to pass on wealth, you can’t name an animal as a beneficiary. Fortunately, there is a workaround: purpose trusts.