Family Law Goes to the Dogs

We marvel at how crazy our dogs become when we arrive home from the grocery store, even though we may have been gone for only 10 minutes. It's like we have been gone for weeks.  They jump around and go nuts.  No wonder that we love our animals.  Wouldn't it be great if our kids were as excited to see us when we came home from work?  So, when dissolution of marriage occurs in California, who gets the family pet? 

Unfortunately, dogs and cats are usually treated as personal property items and are not treated as children.  Judges usually award the dog to either the husband or wife at the time of trial, but a shared visitation award regarding the family pet is not likely. A local judge recently told me a story about a case before him regarding the family dog. 

The wife had moved out of the family residence in California and relocated to Seattle Washington. Both husband and wife wanted the judge to award the dog to him or her. The judge decided to award the dog to the husband on condition that the husband gives the wife $1000 to purchase a new dog in Seattle. The judge sent the attorneys out to speak with their respective clients, to tell each the news about the judges intended decision, and to write up the judge's order. When they returned to the judge's chambers, the judge was surprised that the order provided for the wife, rather than the husband, to be awarded the dog. The attorneys explained that upon being told of the judges intended decision, the wife broke down in the courthouse hallway crying uncontrollably. After regaining control, she offered to pay husband $2500 for the family dog. The husband refused. The wife then raised her offer to $5000. The husband rejected the $5000 offer, whereupon, the wife offered the husband $7500, which he accepted.

It took 2 additional court hearing, each brought on an emergency basis, at great cost to each party, to work out the logistics of transporting the family dog from California to Seattle, Washington. Finally, the dog arrived in Seattle, only to be hit by a car and killed a week later.

A divorcing couple could sign a written agreement, called a stipulation, providing for a shared custody arrangement of a family pet, which a Court would likely honor.  However, if presented with such an issue at the time of trial, without the agreement of both parties, a family law judge would not order such a shared arrangement of the family dog or cat, but would likely award the animal to either the Husband or Wife.  This is a true story with a terrible ending. Unfortunately sad tales like this are too common in Family Court in California.

Richard Ross
Certified Family Law Specialist