You know that parents split up custody of their children when they get divorced. Many times they have shared custody, such as a situation in which the children live at one house for a week and then go live with the other parent for the next week. In some cases, children will stay in the same home all week and visit the other parent on weekends.
You are not a parent, but you and your spouse do own a pet together. You are moving toward a divorce, and you want to know if you’re going to get a shared custody plan so that you can both be involved with the pet after your marriage ends. Is this going to happen?
Only if you set it up yourself
You can set up an arrangement with your ex to share a pet, and some couples do. Maybe it’s an amicable divorce, and the two of you are on good terms. You both still want to be involved with the pet and you understand that sharing that responsibility will make things easier.
However, if you cannot agree on this arrangement, you should know that you’re not going to get one from the court. Pets are not subject to child custody laws because they are legally property. This means that the court would simply determine who should keep the pet, you or your ex, and would not split time between the two of you. It would likely just depend on who purchased the pet initially.
Divorce can get complicated, and you need to make sure that you know about all of the legal steps that you can take as you divide assets and get the other details in order.