All divorces usually involve splitting property, but is your dog considered property? Courts often do not see pets as family members like most of their owners do—they are just property. However, an amendment to Alaska’s divorce statutes took effect last week, which requires courts to consider the well-being of the animal and empowers judges to assign joint custody. For the first time, pets have visibility in divorce proceedings beyond just being property. The Alaska bill also allows courts to consider pets in domestic violence protective orders and further requires the owners of seized, neglected pets to cover the cost of their shelter.
See Karin Brulliard, In a First, Alaska Divorce Courts Will Now Treat Pets More Like Children, Wash. Post, January 24, 2017.
Special thanks to Lewis Saret (Attorney, Washington, D.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
