Pets Aren't People Too...According to Florida Law

 

          Our dog celebrated her 9^th birthday on December 31^st, and reluctantly, I must admit that with each passing year I have to acknowledge that she is more and more an integral part of our family.  Let’s face it, you know when your daughters are away at college and their texts consist of requests for daily videos and photos of our beloved Maltese…you know the dog is the third child we didn’t have.    I know I am not alone.  Statistics put the dollar volume that people spend on their pets at nearly $60 billion (and yes, that is BILLION) each year. For years Hallmark has cashed in on the bond between pets and people with animal sympathy cards when our pets go to the Rainbow Bridge. 

            
         So what happens when a family splits up?  Well, I know all too well the sometimes practical and sometimes prehistoric ways that parents deal with time sharing and parent plans plans (no more “custody” please in Florida…that smacks of the kids being objects rather than living, breathing humans) when it comes to their children.   But what about the family pet?  Let’s start with the law.  Florida does not provide for custody, timesharing, visitation or any other terminology you might come up with as it pertains to pets…be they fish or fowl, canine or cat.  Nope, as far as the Sunshine State is concerned, Fido is classified the same as the furniture.  In other words, the pet becomes part of equitable distribution…splitting up the property.  Just as divorcing folks do not have time sharing with the family room couch, courts give one party the sofa and, presumably the value of that now used couch is offset against another assets.  So it is  with the family pet.  If kitty was rescued from a shelter and you originally paid a $50 adoption fee, then theoretically, your spouse gets a $50 asset from the other marital property to ‘balance” the equation. Forget the fact that this pet has provided love and affection and there is no price that could substitute for her rubbing up against you when you get home each day (yeah, I have two cats as well), the law just doesn’t see it that way.  Moreover, if Fifi was from a champion bloodline and you laid out $5000 for that pet, then your spouse gets an offsets somewhere in other property for that $5000 if you keep the dog.

                What about if you are the registered owner of the pet?  Well, if the pet we purchased during the marriage then (with certain limited exceptions) it is marital property subject to equitable distribution, so the title to the dog does not really resolve the issues.  Now, will a judge, as a person (and maybe a pet owner too) take that into account?  Perhaps, but it is unlikely to appear as the rationale for the distribution in the final judgment.

                Of course, if you are a couple who never married, then the fact that the pet is registered to you and you have “title” to the animal more than likely will carry the day.

                So is there a way to work this out?  Yes, as there is always a way to work things out in family law without a court’s intervention.  The real questions becomes, do the parties want to do that?

            In my next blog I will show you one way to deal with “custody” of the pets that, quite candidly, I wish I’d thought of.  Still, it is worth sharing with all the rest of the pet lovers out there.

Read my other blogs and find out more about how the Law Firm of Cindy S. Vova, P.A. can assist you with your family law concerns.  Go to our website:  
www.vovalaw.com