Last Will and Testament!

[Lockie]

Morning everyone,

I’ve asked NPWS about this question, but haven’t got a response yet so I thought I’d ask it here – I’m sure some of you may have had some experience and can give your advice/knowledge.

I’m in the process of updating my Will (When I die!). Now, my other half isn’t a fellow herper but they do tolerate them, help feed them every now and again, and they also handle them. Believe it or not they even drop in to the spare room sometimes to talk to my jungle. More importantly that this, they’ve contributed half the $$$$ for my pythons, their upkeep, the power bill etc. Understandably, when I die I would want my herps to go to them.

Realistically, my other half would most likely want to sell them – which is fine with me because I’m dead! If I had a $$$ worth of herps then I expect they’d sell them and use the money to live on.

This is where I’m a little uncertain; My other half doesn’t have a reptile licence. So what happens if I leave my pythons to them? Can they legally take possession of them to sell them? My collection isn’t that big at the moment – actually its really small – but eventually I’ll probably have a collection worth a bit of money and so this is an issue that I’d really like to get an answer on – especially if I’ll have to make certain legal arrangements NOW and include them in my Will, to ensure there are no hiccups if I do die.

There are herpers out there that have Chondro’s,– heck there are people in NSW with 10 GTPs and more!!! Their collections are worth over $100,000.00. Can you imagine if the government seized those pythons, and took them off your partner because she/he didn’t have a reptile licence?

Surely this issue has come up before? I’m interested to see what NPWS’s advice is – but in the meantime I’d like to hear from you!

Regards,

Lockie

[Jewly]

Lockie,

I've been thinking about this lately too, knowing that my Children's could outlast me. My advice would be for your partner to apply for a licence as well, that way, if anything does happen to you, then your partner can just take over the care of your snakes and will be able to sell them if that's what she wants to do. I will probably leave my snake to my son, but he will also have to have a licence. I'm happy to pay for it but I'll have to look into it more, because he is only 15 at the moment.

The only trouble with my son taking over the care of Kiandra is that I really wanted her to only be handled by myself but if I want my son to be able to care for her at some point, then I should allow them to get to know one another now.

[amazonian]

I am sure if you only have class 1 animals they would allow your partner to apply for a licence & hold onto them. Forget it if you have class 2 animals.

I recently asked if i could transfer my animals to my partners name if they apply for their licence & was told no as I have class 2 animals & my partner would need to hold a licence for 2 years before aquiring them, even though my partner has been living with me for years & is 50% owner of our stock IMO.

[Chimera]

If you're sure that they would sell them why not state that in your will. "Animals to be sold off at market rate and the proceeds to go to...."

Surely a contingency for deceased estates would exist in the licensing system.

[caustichumor]

I am taking a cue from the ancient egyptians, all my animals will be buried with me.....

[slim6y]

Phone the Public Trust Office... They deal with all animals in wills - When you think about it it is probably quite common. One thing for certain is birds such as cockatoos can easily out live their owners. The Public Trust are usually well versed with this type of thing. I do know htis because my ex works for the Public Trust and she was telling me stuff like this

[caustichumor]

Of course I am only joking about the burial thing..... I am being cremated.......