Photo by Tino Rischawy on Unsplash

Dogs are wonderful animals and most dog owners absolutely love their dog like a child.  While there are so many concerns that people face in a divorce, for some people the biggest issue can be what will happen to their beloved pet.  There is no doubt that over time, dogs have become more and more important to their owners and are generally considered a part of the family, like a furry child.  This begs the question, what happens to the family dog in a divorce case?  This blog is written to generally address this question, every case is different, if you have questions regarding your own situation, please do not hesitate to contact us by clicking on this link or calling (248) 608-4123.

Who Gets The Dog In A Divorce?

This can be a problematic issue when both spouses want to keep the dog or dogs. In Michigan Family Law Courts, pets are still considered as mere property or chattel to be divided in an equitable manner.  This means that if the case goes to trial, the judge will order one person to keep the dog and the other person will be awarded the replacement value of the dog or the out-of-pocket costs of getting a new dog, which is generally a nominal sum of money at best.  If there are two dogs, typically the court will award one dog to each party even if one of the parties thinks this separation will be difficult on the dogs. 

This outcome often seems unduly harsh in this day and age where dogs are considered an integral part of the family.  So what we, as family law attorneys or divorce lawyers, do in many cases is that first we look at whether both parties will be able to keep the dog after the divorce.  If one person keeps the marital home and the other moves into an apartment where no pets are allowed or has to move in with family that will not allow the dog to stay with them, then often we will just stipulate that the person who can keep the dog will keep the dog.  Then if we can get an agreement, the other "dog parent" can have some time to come visit with the dog or otherwise spend time with the dog, so long as they continue to help pay for the costs associated with the animal.  

If both parties could keep the dog, sometimes we work out what amounts to a parenting time plan for the dog, similar to the way we work out parenting time arrangements for children.  One dog parent would have the cat with them on certain days and nights during the week and the other would have the dog on the other days and nights.  We also typically include a requirement that both parties will continue to pay for the expenses associated with the animal and that if one party is going out of town, the other party would have the first right to provide care for the dog before the dog goes to the kennel or somewhere else during that time.  If there are two or more dogs, then we try to decide whether it would be better for the dogs to be separated so that one parent gets one dog  and the other gets the other dog.  Conversely, if the dog parents agree the dogs should stay together then we would keep the dogs together.  Again, we would also work out some type of parenting time plan and determine the responsibility of payment for care if the dog parents so desire.

One final thought on this is that because dogs are considered property, it makes a difference if one spouse owned the dog before the marriage or if the dog was a gift to one of the spouses before or during the marriage.  In those instances the spouse who owned the dog prior to the marriage should be awarded the dog as their separate property and the spouse to whom the dog was gifted should be awarded the dog as their own separate property free-and-clear of any claims by the other spouse.

This blog was written to generally address this very narrow issue that my arise during a divorce proceeding.  If you have questions regarding a potential divorce or separation in your future, please contact us by clicking on this link or calling (248) 608-4123 to schedule a consultation.