A Divorce Attorney Can Help You to Determine Who Gets Your Pets

As a local divorce attorney, we work with a lot of couples that have complicated divorces.  If you and your soon to be ex don’t get along, it can be difficult to determine who will get what when dividing assets.  This can range from fights over the home to who gets the couch and what to do with the pets.  If you are in this situation, hire a lawyer as soon as possible in order to sort it out quickly.

Determining what happens to the pets can be the most difficult of all.  Pets are not treated like children by the court, even if you treat them that way. That means that the judge is under no obligation to split custody between you and your ex.  Instead, they are treated like property so as the couch is given to one of you, your pets may be given to one of you as well.

As a divorce attorney, we can help to build a case for why you should retain possession or custody of your pets.  In order to do so, we need as much information as possible.  This way we can demonstrate who cares for the pets, takes them to the vet, spends the most time with them, etc.  Just like we would prove a strong bond with children we must also prove a strong bond with your pet.  If you are trying to keep a pet that was bought by your ex prior to the marriage this becomes more difficult to do.

We often recommend that you try mediation so that we can negotiate with your ex and their attorney over who should keep your family pet.  We understand that this is a very sensitive matter because pets are a member of the family.  The challenge is that if it cannot be resolved through negotiations the judge will make a decision.  They will decide at the same time they are deciding what happens to all of your other assets and the custody of your children, which means they will be very busy.  There is always a risk in letting the judge decide because you never know what they will do. In negotiations, you have more of an opportunity to have things go your way or at least reach a compromise.

Before starting mediation, you should consider what you would be willing to give up in exchange.  Think about something that your ex really wants and whether or not you would be willing to part with it.  For example, if you purchased a boat last summer and they want to keep it, would you rather have your pet or your boat?  They may be willing to sacrifice keeping the family dog if they can keep the family home or something else that is of sentimental value.  Consider your options and what you are willing to do then as your divorce attorney, we can negotiate on your behalf and help you to keep custody of Sparky. 

Why You Need a Divorce Attorney to Help with Your Military Divorce

If you are in the military or married to a service member, you need to hire a divorce attorney to help with your separation or divorce.  These cases can be far more complicated than a civilian divorce simply due to the variety of issues that military members face that others do not.  For example, when deployed overseas it is very difficult to engage an attorney and deal with the process. Representing yourself is really not a viable option.  Instead, an expert lawyer can help you to navigate through the issues successfully.

There are two sides to every divorce case, and even the most amiable divorces still have some level of contention and fighting.  A lawyer can help to make the process go more smoothly and mitigate some of the tension. Whether you are an active duty military member or the spouse of one, here is why working with a lawyer is a good idea.

If you are active duty military…

While you are deployed, your spouse is still allowed to file for divorce.  This creates a unique set of challenges as you may have limited access to communication and regardless, dealing with a divorce from far away is not easy.  We can help by requesting that the court stay the proceedings until you get back.  This gives you time to process and prepare.  It is up the judge to decide but as a divorce attorney, we will put forth the best argument as to why you are not in a position to go through the process but will be upon your return.  If, however, you would like to proceed with the divorce from far away, we can help to facilitate the negotiations to make sure that your interests are protected.  If your spouse wants to settle quickly, they will need to be willing to compromise and work with your requests.

If you are deployed, do not let your spouse bully you or threaten you with statements about taking the kids, etc.  You still have rights, and we can help to protect them.

If you are married to a service member...

One of the largest challenges you may face is figuring out how to start your life over.  For example, if you are living in military housing, you will not be able to stay there once the divorce is complete.  This means you will need to find new housing, which at times, may force you to look out of the state.  This is most common when families move to a base far from home.  It is common to want to go home to where your support system is.  The challenge is that if you have children, you can’t move without permission. Either your spouse must agree, or a judge must approve your request for relocation.  Even during the separation process, you must file for relocation before actually moving your children out of state.  We can help you to sort through this process and make a case for why you should be able to do so.

Military divorces are complicated, and these are only a few of the issues that we commonly see.  If you are considering separation or divorce, call us to speak with an experienced divorce attorney so that you and your future is protected.