It’s very common for married couples to buy pets together. For instance, perhaps you and your spouse got married, purchased a home and bought your first dog. Some couples even see this as a way to test the waters before having children, as caring for a pet gives them responsibility that extends beyond themselves.
But what happens if you and your spouse decide to get a divorce? You may both have a close bond with your dog, and you think of it as part of your small family. As you go through the divorce, do you have to figure out a custody arrangement so that you can share time with your dog after your personal relationship ends?
You have to make these arrangements on your own
If you and your ex agree that you’d like to share time with your dog, you certainly can do that. It’s very natural to want to preserve this relationship, which may be quite special to you.
But one important thing to remember is that you’ll have to set up any sort of exchange of custody on your own. The two of you would need to agree, and the court isn’t going to address this for you.
The reason is that the court considers your dog to be property. In this sense, it is similar to anything else you purchased together—a car, furniture for your house, and so on. So the court can’t set up a custody arrangement, but can include the dog in the property division process. This would likely mean that one of you would receive the right to keep the dog, and the other would get a different asset of similar financial value.
If you’re going through the divorce process for the first time, you may have many questions, which is why it’s important to understand all of the legal options at your disposal.
