Making pets part of prenuptial agreement

It’s clear the relationship isn’t worth salvaging. A breakup is imminent, and it’s time to divvy up assets. But a question lingers: Who gets the pets?

While pets have historically been treated as property in the eyes of the law, that’s starting to change.

Earlier this year, a new law went into effect in Alaska requiring courts to take an animal’s well-being into consideration in the event of a divorce. It also allows judges to assign joint custody of pets. A Rhode Island lawmaker introduced a similar bill in late February.

It’s rare for couples who adopt a pet together to plan for their furry friend’s future if the relationship goes south.

“I have seen one couple include pets in a prenuptial agreement in my 26 years of practice,” said Anita Ventrelli, a senior partner at Chicago-based family law firm Schiller, DuCanto & Fleck.

Tricia Goostree, founder and managing partner of St. Charles, Ill.-based law firm Goostree Law Group, said she has never had a couple raise it as part of prenup negotiations, in part because it’s rare that couples adopt a pet together before marriage.

Usually, she said, one party brings the pet into the relationship, so the pet is considered that person’s nonmarital property.

“In our practice, typically one party retains the pet,” Goostree said. “In certain circumstances, people establish a schedule to visit with their pets or even provide for how the pet will be cared for financially following a divorce.”

Even though it may be unpleasant to think about, experts say couples should make pets part of their prenuptial agreements, so the animals are taken care of, just in case the romance doesn’t work out in the long run.