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It is estimated that roughly, 63% of American households have pets. These couples or families see their pets as their friend, their family, or even as a surrogate child. But, has anybody thought about what happens to Rover if a couple divorces?

In the eyes of the law, pets have traditionally been considered to be property – like anything else in a household that needs to get divided up.  Over the past several years, some courts around the country have, at least in part, given some credence to the idea of “the best interests of the pet” – dog, cat, etc.  There have been some joint custody awards, a visitation schedule set for the “visiting” parent and even awards of “doggie support”.

The moral of the story then, is if John and Jane Doe decide to divorce, in addition to determining what is a fair distribution of assets/liabilities, spousal support, custody of children, parenting time and child support, John and Jane may want to consider taking Fido’s or Whiskers’ interests into account as well.

The decision to get a divorce is always a difficult one. But once you’ve made the difficult choice to actually file, there is another lesser-known choice to make: how do you want to handle the proceedings? There are a lot of factors that go into ending a marriage: financials, property, alimony, visitation/custody rights, and/or child support. While most people choose to go with litigation and lawyers and rack up potentially thousands of dollars in legal fees, there is a more affordable option: mediation.

Divorce mediation differs from litigation and arbitration in a number of ways. The divorce mediation process involves a mediator, who is a third-party and will not impose a solution on the divorcing couple as a judge or arbitrator would.  The mediator facilitates negotiations between the divorcing couple to help them reach a mutually acceptable separation or divorce agreement. While the mediator participates in the proceedings in a hands-on way, the final decision is always up to the couple.  Divorce Mediation almost always ends up being less costly for the divorcing parties – they don’t each have to pay their own lawyers and can split the cost of one mediator. Divorce mediation also takes less time than going to court, which again cuts down on fees. The quicker the process is over, the less hourly fees you have to pay. In addition to being less expensive, divorce mediation tends to be much easier on your family as well, if there are children involved (since there is no reason to appear in court).

Overall, if you think that mediation might be a good option for you, please contact Landmark Divorce Mediation and we will answer any questions you have.