Articles Tagged with pet custody

DogWho Keeps the Dog in a Divorce?

Your pets are part of your family. Often, couples have pets before they have children, and sometimes they have pets instead of kids. Most households own some type of pet. In fact, pet ownership has increased significantly over the last 30 years. As of 2023, about 66% of households in the United States are home to a pet. That equates to about almost 90 million homes. When couples divorce, they need to decide which one will keep the family pet.

Pets are Property

Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold answers the question: “What can I do to gain custody of my child in North Carolina?”

Dividing property during a divorce – also known as distribution in North Carolina – is a grueling experience. Fighting over child custody is often a disheartening and painful experience. But what about pets?

Board Certified Family Law Specialist Matt Arnold answers the question: “What are my custody rights if the other parent moves?”

We have discussed it several times before, pets are one of the most important parts of a divorce to be ignored from a legal perspective. Other key aspects of a split, including money, property and, obviously, children are all addressed by various laws and must be signed off on by a judge. Animals, on the other hand, are at best treated like any other item of personal property or, at worst, utterly ignored. Given the importance many people place on their pets, experts have said for years this is an area of the law that is ripe for change.

Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What are my custody rights if the other parent moves?”

Family law attorneys are used to hearing and seeing it all. The combination of anger, embarrassment and hurt feelings can combine to cause good people to act out in all manner of strange ways. One area that was often a central focus of this acting out concerned custody battles, with the parents engaging in brutal battles to secure more advantageous custody or visitation arrangements. While this is certainly still the case among some couples, a new subject has recently been getting attention: pet custody.

Matthew R. Arnold of Arnold & Smith, PLLC answers the question “What can I do to gain custody of my child in North Carolina?”

Custody battles between parents in a litigated divorce case can turn into ugly proxy wars in which, sadly, children serve unwillingly on the front lines. The battles, which often have little to do with the children themselves, are instead often “about control and winning and lashing out” when one parent feels hurt by the words or actions of another.

Contact Information