When parents get divorced, they usually divide custody of their children. When couples who don’t have kids split up, they’re more focused on dividing the property that they own.
But pets fit into an interesting middle ground. Many people think of them almost as members of their family. If two people have had a dog together for five years and are now getting divorced, they may both want a chance to see the dog after the relationship ends. So can they set up a custody arrangement for their pet?
Legally, pets are property
Certainly, pet owners are free to set up these arrangements on their own. They can work together to make a schedule where they can exchange the pet, giving them both a chance to have a relationship with it after the divorce.
But the important thing to note is that the court isn’t going to help with this process. They’re not going to set up a custody plan the way they would for a child.
The reasoning is that pets legally count as property that people own. So if a couple can’t come up with an agreement for how they want to share time with the pet, the court isn’t going to do it for them. The most the court would do is help them with property division, splitting up the assets that they own. But this would likely just mean that one person would be given the pet while the other would be given something else with a similar financial value. The court does not consider the pet a member of the family, but an asset that the couple owns jointly.
Issues like this can sometimes lead to disputes, which is why it’s important to understand what legal steps to take when going through a divorce.
