Many people consider their pets part of their family. The companionship, protection, and unconditional love pets provide are especially valuable when people are going through a stressful event like a divorce.
Questions about who gets custody of the pets in a divorce arise all the time in Connecticut family law practice. As with many aspects of family law, the correct answer is: It depends.
The most important thing to understand is that despite the pet’s role in the family, a pet is property. A divorcing spouse seeks possession of the pet, not custody.
The distinction is more than semantics. The law directs how courts must divide property in a divorce. It also controls how divorcing parents should manage child custody, using a completely different set of criteria.
A pet that was the property of one spouse when the marriage occurred is the spouse’s separate property, and there is a presumption that the pet would stay with that spouse. A pet brought into the household after marriage would be marital property subject to distribution according to Connecticut General Statutes § 46b-81.
When couples divorce, each spouse usually keeps their separate property, and they divide their marital property. Sometimes, the line between separate and marital property gets blurred, which could happen with a pet.
When a spouse treats separate property as joint property or when the other spouse substantially contributes to maintaining the other spouse’s separate property, both spouses might have a claim to it when they divorce. So, for example, if one spouse owned a dog when the couple married but the other spouse did a lot of the dog walking and oversaw its training and veterinary care during the marriage, both spouses might have viable claims to possess the dog after a divorce.
If the spouses cannot agree on who should keep the dog, the court might decide. However, judges do not like having to rule on issues regarding pets—or any divorce issue, for that matter. The system works best when divorcing couples can work out their problems together and submit their agreements to the judge for approval and confirmation.
People who love their pets cannot imagine life without them, but it is one of the harsh realities of the breakdown of a marriage. A pet cannot live in two homes simultaneously, and spouses must pick one. Working with a third party and considering what would be best for the pet can help spouses find a solution to pet possession without burdening the court with the question.
Mediators can be extremely helpful in resolving pet possession and all the other issues that people bring to divorce court. Both parties must be willing to settle for less than they truly want, but mediation can result in a workable agreement that both spouses can live with and feel is fair. Collaborative divorce is another alternative that works well for some couples.
Even though a pet is legally property, it also has needs. Couples should try to keep the pet’s needs in mind when negotiating possession. Some pets might do fine living part-time in each spouse’s home, and some would not. Pets develop attachments just like people do, and if a pet has a special connection with one of the children, for example, both the pet and child would likely adjust best to the divorce if they stayed together.
You love your pet and your pet loves you, but making pet possession a critical issue in your divorce is usually a mistake. If the judge must decide where the pet lives, you might not like the result. In addition, your inability to agree with your spouse on who keeps the pet might impact the judge’s opinion of your ability to cooperate and work together, which could be an issue if you are also contesting child custody matters.
Our Connecticut lawyers can help you resolve who gets possession of the pets in your divorce, usually without getting the judge involved. Call today to discuss your situation with a seasoned attorney.
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