Interesting and timely topic...
My mother passed away July 20th this year. In her will she indicated all the horses in her possesion at the time of her passing are to be given to me. She also placed aside monies towards transfers of registration papers, monies for registering any foals, monies for her stallion choice and mare care for next year (2006). Other than that she left it to my "inheritance $$ to pay for feed, farrier, vets for as long as I owned the horses or they lived.
So ... she left enough $$ to take care of getting the mare (her only horse) and her 2005 foal registered into my name (included the DNA cost too!), the stud fee for her choice of stallion next year and the mare care. After that it is up to me to pay any costs involved. Of course, she did have a little time to prepare as per her wishes regarding her stallion choice (my choice too BTW).
So I guess it depends not only WHO gets the horse, but if you have funds do you want to allocate some. In my mother's case the stud fee is $ 4000 USD, the DNA $ 75, transfer of mare and 05 foal $ 80, mare care for 2006 $ 200. So she designated out of her monies $4,355.00. To it was well thought out, due to the fact who KNOWS next year what circumstances might be that I might not be able to pay for her final wishes out of MY own pocket, she very kindly and thoughtfully took the stress away. It is her final wish AND GIFT to me in her passing. It was also the fact she had the $$ to get it put into a trust. To get at the $$ I must produce the necessary paperwork (not that she didn't trust me but her lawyer didn't want ANY loopholes to come back to bite anyone..cool guy..my hubby LOL)
It has to be mentioned that the people "receiving" the horses be prepared...can they financially look after your horses. Are they capable of providing the same or better level of care you did? I know, it seems silly, it;s like designating a guardian for your children, but in my mother's life, her mare and foal where like her "other" kids.
Just my 2 cents worth..
Kim