The financial value of assets often drives conflict during divorce. However, some issues arise due to emotional attachment. When divorcing spouses share family pets with one another, they may both feel very strongly about what happens with their pets after the divorce.
Sometimes, people hope to ask the courts to establish a shared pet custody order. While that may seem reasonable on the surface, it is an expectation that does not align with state family law statutes.
Pets are technically property
The emotional value of pets can be hard to overstate. The idea of sharing custody of a beloved pet may seem rational and reasonable to divorcing spouses. However, the law views animals as property.
Judges usually allocate possession of the pet to one spouse and then factor the value of the pet into other decisions that they make. At most, they may consider which spouse has the capabilities to meet the pet’s needs consistently.
Any continued access for the other spouse typically relies on an agreement between the spouses and mutual cooperation. It may be possible to secure visitation and to regularly see the pet when the other spouse travels and requires pet-sitting services.
Such arrangements are typically the result of negotiations between spouses, not litigation. Those facing contentious divorces sometimes have to accept the painful reality that they may lose contact with their beloved companion animal.
Understanding that pets are part of the property division process (technically speaking) rather than family members subject to custody orders can help people strategize for divorce more effectively. Judges do not treat pets as people when their owners divorce, which means that pet owners may need to approach the matter with particular care during negotiations with a spouse or litigation in family court.