“Pet Custody” disputes has become a growing issues in divorce or separation cases and has driven a call for changes to the law, and has lead to more “pet parents” turning to mediation and pre-emptive pet agreements.
Family lawyers are increasingly dealing with disputes about who should keep a beloved pet. Since Covid 19, the majority of the disputed pets are dogs, as many more couples and families brought a dog into their family.
Family Law specialists are increasingly dealing with clients who are able to agree financial settlements, but are at loggerheads when it comes to who should keep their pet.
Currently, within divorce, the law in England and Wales treats pets as a chattel or an object to be given to one or the other party as part of a divorce settlement without a requirement to consider the welfare of the pet. The Court typically looks at factual issues such as who purchased the pet rather than more emotive factors such as the mutual bond and emotional support the pet provides. It is becoming increasingly evident that this is not a satisfactory way of dealing with the family pets.
The Divorce Courts are showing some signs of reflecting on some of the welfare issues involved with pet ownership, as part of their consideration of ‘all circumstances of the case’ when deciding financial issues.
A Working Group on Pets on Divorce and Separation was founded by Specialist Family Lawyers, Solicitor Estella Newbold-Brown and Barrister Sarah Lucy Cooper MCI Arb Family in 2024 to lobby the government for a change in the law to introduce specific provisions when dealing with pets to bring our law more in line with that already adopted by many other countries.
A consultation on reform to divorce laws and cohabitation is due to take place early 2026 and the Working Group will be pressing for the treatment of pets to be included within the reforms.
Australia brought in recent changes to their law in June 2025 and now have a list of specific factors the court must consider on divorce to decide who keeps the ‘companion animal’ including the bond between the pet and family members, including children.
Some separated couples are resorting to mediation or arbitration to seek to resolve these disputes out of court.
To try and pre-empt these upsetting and potentially costly legal disputes arising, couples are also considering Pet Agreements to set out what they agree will happen to pets, they may bring into the relationship or have in the future.
Whilst you cannot predict what will be in the best interest of the pet at the time the parties may separate, it can set out what considerations will be taken into account and may also include specifics of what future arrangements will be made for the care of the pet, payment of expenses and quite possibly shared care or contact with the ‘pet parent’ that does not retain day to day care.
Our specialist divorce and family team at Davies and Partners’ have experience of advising on many pet disputes in divorce settlements. The team will keep a close eye on the Consultation and review how it progresses next year. If you have any family or divorce issues you would like to discuss with our team please get in touch.
