My bachelor Uncle Vernon refused to make out a last will and testament. Twenty-one years ago, he passed away unexpectedly.

That left his beloved (but decrepit) English Shepherd dog Fred in a pickle.

Luckily, my mother volunteered to adopt Fred and care for him in his final years.

Things haven’t always worked out that smoothly for pets. According to the Wall Street Journal, it has taken automated prompts by businesses such as Trust & Will (the online estate-planning service) to remind clueless pet owners that they may predecease their “fur babies.”

(Yes, historically, people have neglected questions about the fate of “the cutest widdle buddy in the whole world, yes, him is” in favor of “Which relative has the proper home security system to safeguard my well-used, halfway-complete collection of imitation Beanie Babies?”)

Complex, micro-managed pet trust funds have long been an option for the........

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