law<\/a> passed in 2021 shifted the legal standard for how pets should be considered in divorce proceedings. No longer are pets considered \u201cproperty,\u201d like a couch or piece of art: The court must consider \u201cthe best interests\u201d of the pet themselves when making decisions over who takes the furry friend with them when leaving \u2014 a portion of the same standard applied to kids.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201c[Courts] weigh the involvement or absence of a party in the animal\u2019s day-to-day life, the availability and willingness of each party to care for the companion animal, the party\u2019s involvement in veterinary and health issues for the companion animal, quality of the home environment and care and affection that\u2019s shown towards the companion animal,\u201d Frawley said. \u201cAnd, generally, each party\u2019s fitness and caretaker ability.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Frawley-Kelly-COPR.jpg\" "\\"Who")
Kelly Frawley, partner in the matrimonial and family law practice at Sterlington PLLC, a law firm with a focus on advising ultra-high-net-worth individuals.Provided by Kelly Frawley<\/p>\n
However, Frawley emphasized that nothing will ever take priority over what\u2019s best for a child in divorce proceedings. <\/p>\n
She said courts in New York are essentially making decisions about who gets the pet as a sort of \u201chybrid\u201d between awarding someone \u201cpossession\u201d of an object and considering the \u201cbest interest\u201d of the animal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t fall squarely in one or the other,\u201d Frawley said. \u201cWhile there is a similarity between the factors that the court considers for a pet and a kid, they\u2019re not the same, and they\u2019re by no means going to be treated the same. It\u2019s by no means the same best interest analysis that we see for children.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That all means that how attorneys and judges consider when deciding who gets the dog tends to come down to who seems to care the most about the pet \u2013 and who can prove they know how to take care of the animal via vet records and other papers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are somebody who\u2019s interested in genuinely pursuing being a primary caretaker for the companion animal, I think you should have a handle on the dog\u2019s health, how the vet visits go, and being present at the vet visits,\u201d Frawley said. \u201cUnderstanding if your dog has an allergy, and knowing what precautions need to be taken at the vet, if any, when you bring your animal in matters. What your ability to care for the animal is and what the home environment is matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
How pet custody battles in New York have changed in five years<\/p>\n
What\u2019s happened since the law\u2019s passed? While a judge hasn\u2019t yet issued a joint custody decision for a pet, judges have certainly ruled that one person or the other should keep the animal> A judge has also ruled on providing an \u201caccess schedule\u201d to the pet between parties (with one being considered the dog\u2019s primary caretaker and the other the secondary) and has ruled that one person over the other should make veterinary decisions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
One important thing Frawley thinks the law change has resulted in is people using pets as leverage less. It\u2019s hard to make the case that you truly believe living with you is in the pet\u2019s best interest if it\u2019s clear you\u2019re only arguing over the dog or cat in the first place because you see the animal your ex-partner cares about as a bargaining chip to get more money in a settlement.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy advice to people is to be genuine. Put the animal\u2019s interest first. If you really think that you should be the caretaker because you have been, pursue it. If you\u2019re using it as leverage, don\u2019t,\u201d she said. \u201cUsing it as leverage just undermines that you\u2019re really looking at it from a best interest perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n
She thinks judges can tell when people aren\u2019t being sincere about their desire for the pet.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there is a hearing on it, the court\u2019s going to be able to see who really cares about the animal versus who maybe sort of cares about the animal, but not to the same degree as the other party,\u201d Frawley said. \u201cI have picked up that the courts could tell who really was attached to the dog and who really wasn\u2019t. When it comes to a companion animal, it\u2019s pretty easy to see what\u2019s happening when you ask somebody about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even so, it\u2019s still most likely that lawyers will get their clients to come to an agreement over who gets the pet according to the new legal standards outside court, Frawley said.<\/p>\n
Frawley said the best way to handle these disputes is to try to avoid getting into them at all. If couples are considering buying or adopting a pet together, she said they should discuss \u2014 and agree in writing \u2014 about what happens to the dog in the event of a split up front.<\/p>\n
If you are someone who knows you want to keep the pet, make sure everything \u2014 the purchase record, the vet records, official communications, etc. \u2014 is in your name from the start, especially if you are not officially married, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I were to advise somebody who is buying a pet with somebody with whom they\u2019re not married to, I would say have the adoption paperwork, all the paperwork in your name. Have the vet records in your name,\u201d Frawley said. \u201cThe animal should have your last name. Have proof of payment for all the companion animals\u2019 expenses, and also be present. That\u2019s what\u2019s most important. Be the one who\u2019s there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to have a slam dunk case, that\u2019s what you should do,\u201d the attorney added. \u201cIt\u2019s just like, you wouldn\u2019t buy a home with somebody who you\u2019re not married to without talking to a lawyer. You\u2019ve got to be smart about an animal, too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When a couple with children gets a divorce, a custody battle over the kids is expected. But what…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330266,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,61420,13298,101976,2710,9,24,63,6124],"class_list":["post-330265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-custody","tag-divorce","tag-family-law","tag-law","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-pets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}