When you and your spouse got your dog, you almost thought of it as your first child. This was your first attempt at expanding your family unit, and you both loved the dog wholeheartedly. You raised it together from the time it was a puppy.
But now you and your spouse have decided to end your marital relationship. The dog is five years old, so you still have a lot of time left with your beloved pet. How do you address this during a divorce? Do you need to share custody or create a custody schedule?
The legal perspective
The important thing to remember here is that dog owners often have the perspective that the dog is part of the family. They think of it like a child.
The law, however, does not. Legally, the dog is just property, an asset that you purchased with your spouse. It is not a part of your family and so the court is not going to create a pet custody schedule
Instead, if you and your spouse can’t agree on who should get the pet or even how to share time with the dog after the divorce, the court can make a ruling. But the court will use property division laws, not child custody laws. Say that you add up all of the expenses for the dog and find that you have invested around $5,000. The court may give you the dog and simply give your spouse other assets that are equal in value to $5,000.
As you can imagine, this is often a very unsatisfactory solution for a pet owner. it creates a complicated legal situation, and you certainly need to know what options you have when working through your divorce.