If you’re one of our more frequent readers, then you probably understand just how beneficial a prenuptial agreement can be in a California divorce. Prenuptial agreements, as you may well know, allow divorcing couples to easily work through what is considered to be one of the most contentious parts of the process: property division. That’s because these legal documents are signed before the marriage begins, laying out the rules for property division before hurt feelings have a chance to change spouses’ minds.
But even though a prenuptial agreement is supposed to make property division that much smoother, there are situations where easy might not be the choice word for the process. That’s because over time, spouses might develop an emotional attachment to a piece of property. And when that piece of property is the family dog, things can get complicated indeed.
A lot of people across the state of California are attached to their dogs. In many cases, they consider them part of the family. But property laws see our fury friends a little differently. Generally speaking, pets are considered — for all intents and purposes — property in a divorce. The same rules of distribution apply to the dog, which means if you grew attached to it but were not the one who purchased it, you might find your beloved pooch going to your ex-spouse.
One way you might be able to address this issue before it becomes a problem is to include your family pets in your prenuptial agreement. Like with other property, outlining who will get the family dog in a prenuptial agreement can help avoid the problems emotional attachment often causes down the road.
As we hinted at above though, even the existence of a prenuptial agreement is no guarantee that the divorcing couple will not encounter problems when it comes time to distribute property. It’s good to note though that if contentions arise, couples can seek legal help from an experienced lawyer.
