If you’re a parent who’s getting divorced, you know that you need to make a custody plan for your children. Ideally, you and your spouse will work together to come up with something that fits well with your lives and puts the children’s best interests first.
But what about your dog? Do you need to make a custody plan to share the family pet?
Your dog is technically property
The first thing to understand is that dogs are property in the eyes of the law. You can’t ask the court to make a custody plan for your pet. They’re not going to do it. Instead, they’re just going to make your dog part of your basic assets, determine how much it is worth, and then split those assets up between you and your ex. This means just one of you gets to keep the dog.
However, you and your ex are certainly allowed to create a custody plan or some sort of exchange schedule if you’d like to do so. One common way to do this is just to make the child custody plan first and then to include the dog so that it is exchanged at the same time you exchange the kids for visitation. This way, the children always get to live with the dog, no matter which house they’re technically in at the time, and you and your ex split up the time with your beloved pet, as well.
When you and your ex are able to get along and work together, you can use solutions like this that make life better for all involved. Make sure you know about all of your legal options at this time.