Home > News
The question, “Who gets the family pet?” is getting to be a major issue in divorce court.
Pets, in most cases, are treated the same as all other marital property in divorce proceedings because they are considered personal property under state property laws.
However, lawsuits are being filed challenging the traditional treatment of pets in divorce. A spouse who did not receive custody of the family pet often sues to receive “visitation” or “custody” rights.
Pets: Personal Property?
Although most courts are continuing to treat pets as personal property, there is likely to be an increase in state legislation in the future to establish new rights with respect to the treatment of family pets in divorce proceedings.
Pet custody cases are growing in number. Nearly a quarter of divorce lawyers surveyed across the United States have noticed an increase in the past five years, according to a poll of members of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
“There is a shift occurring in our society in which the pet is considered more a member of the family and therefore becomes, sadly, a part of the battle when the family disintegrates,” said Joyce Tischler, founding director of the Animal Legal Defense Fund in Northern California.
Ninety percent of the pet custody battles were about dogs, according to the survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.
Brief Argues Animals Are Unnamed Third Parties in Custody Cases
The Animal Legal Defense Fund prepared an 18-page friend-of-the-court brief five years ago intended to show judges in divorce proceedings that there is an “unnamed third party” in a custody case.
“There is a distinction in the dog or cat’s mind — believe it or not — as to who tends to be closer,” said Joyce Tischler, director of the Animal League Defense Fund of the relationship between pet and owners. The brief makes clear that the animal’s interests should not be left out in such cases.
(Source: California Divorce and Family Law)
Are you going through a divorce? If so, contact an experienced divorce attorney who will aggressively, yet compassionately fight to protect your legal rights.