Pet Care Instructions for Your Sibling: A Brisbane Carer’s Plan for Mum or Dad’s Animals

You’re the one who drives across Brisbane to check on your aging parent — and on their dog, their cat, the budgie that’s outlived two vets. Your sibling lives closer, or further, or simply has the spare room. You’ve half-agreed they’d take the animals if Mum or Dad went into hospital tomorrow. Nothing is written down. The vet doesn’t know your sibling’s name. The dog’s thyroid medication schedule lives in your head.

The problem

When an older person is suddenly hospitalised or dies, their pets are the asset class no one has planned for. ASIC’s MoneySmart estate planning guidance covers wills and powers of attorney, but most family wills don’t address animals in any practical way — they may name a beneficiary but say nothing about feeding routines, the vet’s phone number, or which medications are mid-course. The result is predictable: animals end up at a council pound or RSPCA Queensland intake because the family who arrived at the house didn’t know there was a plan, didn’t know who’d agreed to take them, and couldn’t reach a vet who knew the animal’s history.

Your sibling doesn’t need access to your parent’s bank account or MyGov. They need a single, accurate page: which animals live in the house, what each one eats and when, what medications are current, who the vet is, and confirmation that they are the agreed carer. Without that, the first 48 hours go to phone calls and improvisation — exactly when a frightened animal needs continuity.

What the Digital Legacy Vault does

The Digital Legacy Vault is an asset-instruction register: you record what exists, where to find it, and who should know — module by module. The simplified version (built for individuals and families) records, per pet: name, species, breed, age, microchip number, dietary requirements, current medications and dosing schedule, the vet clinic name and phone number, behavioural notes, and the named intended carer with their recorded consent. You can also reference any pet trust or bequest arrangement made in the will, without duplicating it.

The boundary matters: the Digital Legacy Vault is not a financial product, not a custody service, and not an advice service. It holds instructions about the animals — not the animals themselves, not your parent’s account credentials, and not legal advice on bequests. That’s what keeps it outside the AFSL regime (Corporations Act Part 7.6) and outside AUSTRAC reporting. It also means it can be a simple subscription set up on a Sunday afternoon at your parent’s kitchen table.

How it works

  1. You sit with your parent and add each animal to the pets module — name, vet, food, medications, routine.
  2. You name your sibling as the recipient for the pets module. The vault sends them a consent request; they accept (or decline, which is itself useful information to surface early).
  3. You record the vet clinic’s direct number and a note authorising the vet to discuss the animal’s history with your sibling.
  4. You set the release rule — for example, on confirmed hospitalisation or death of your parent — per the Privacy Act principles on disclosure of personal information to authorised recipients.
  5. When the trigger occurs, your sibling is notified and sees only the pets module. They can ring the vet on day one with the animal’s name and microchip number, and the medication schedule doesn’t reset to zero.

Why this matters in Brisbane

Brisbane households skew toward detached homes with yards, which means more dogs, more outdoor cats, and more aging owners managing animals alone across suburbs like Chermside, Carindale, and the bayside. RSPCA Queensland’s Wacol shelter takes intake from across South East Queensland, and a surrendered animal from a deceased estate can sit in care for weeks while family work out who, if anyone, will claim it. A named sibling with the vet’s number and a current medication list short-circuits that entire path — the animal goes from your parent’s house to your sibling’s house, not via a shelter cage.

Sources

Join the waitlist

Join the waitlist — first access when the Digital Legacy Vault opens for Brisbane carers

We’re opening waitlist access in tranches. Sign up to be notified when carers of aging parents in Brisbane can register their first pets module. The Digital Legacy Vault holds instructions about what exists and how your sibling can find it — not your parent’s passwords, not their MyGov code, and not custody of the animals themselves.