Though there was a will, Fifth Third found a way to save Boots

[douglas9]

Boots, an 11-year-old cat from Berwyn, has narrowly avoided using up the last of her nine lives, thanks to trust officers at Fifth Third Bank who resisted carrying out a death sentence stipulated in the will of the cat's owner.

Georgia Lee Dvorak died recently at age 76. In a will she drew up more than 20 years ago, she stated that any cat or cats that she owned at the time of her death be euthanized “in a painless, peaceful manner” by a veterinarian’s lethal injection.

But trust officers at Fifth Third Bank, which was appointed to manage Dvorak’s estate, were squeamish about carrying out those terms on Boots. Dvorak was not survived by any relatives.

So on Monday, Fifth Third asked a Cook County probate court to set aside that provision of Dvorak’s 1988 will as it had found a shelter to take Boots.

“It would violate public policy to euthanize a healthy housecat where an appropriate shelter has been identified,” lawyers from Spain Spain & Varnet plead to the court on behalf of Fifth Third.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-cat-survives-death-sentence-in-owners-will-after-fifth-third-bank-intervenes-20120404,0,3578581.story

[elleng]

1. Very good to hear that good public policy prevailed,

trust officers were squeamish, and probate court agreed!

[ginnyinWI]

2. she looks just like one of my three.

Glad that common sense has prevailed in this and the other cases mentioned in the article.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. "Good guys at a Bank"

That's the news headline I'd have written!

[Curmudgeoness]

4. A friend of mine has this stipulation too.

She has five cats, and asked me to help her husband take care of them if she dies. One is diabetic and needs insulin shots, another has hyperthyroidism and needs meds. I agreed that I would help take care of them.

But then she also said that if anything happens to both of them, or if he dies first, the cats are all to be euthanized when she dies. I told her that I refused to be a party to that, and that I would take in any cats still alive. She said no, they will not be happy anyplace else. But all I said was that if I can get to them first, I will not abide by her wishes.

[kas125]

5. I had horrible experiences with Fifth Third and closed my account ten years ago, but

I'm very glad to read that they've done this.

[joeybee12]

6. Good news...that cat has several good years left...

I hope he finds a new home soon.