Isaac's Family Law Blog

New BC Law Changes How Pets Are Divided Up in Divorce & Family Law Cases Yesterday I had the pleasure of accepting Kristy Cameron's invitation to join her on her radio show in Ottawa to weigh in on the recent changes to the Family Law Act in British Columbia . You can find her show at iHeart Radio 580 CFRA News Talk Radio . One of my favourite parts of the show was when Kristy and her producer Chris coined the word "dogimony." It was on the topic of how the ownership and possession of pets is now decided in British Columbia courts. Photo credit: Yuliya Strizhkina. A pet's best interests are now one of the principles a BC judge must consider when deciding which party gets ownership and possession of the companion animal. The relationship a child has with the pet and the relationship the other spouse has are also required considerations. It's like a combined best interest of the pet + stakeholder principle.  What are the changes in s 92 and s 97 of BC’s Family L...

The Point Having an emotional connection with the pet is not enough to establish ownership.  A Dog and Two Lawyers Two years ago, a decision came out that decided who got the dog in a separation. I find it interesting because of how the dispute started and that fact that there was only one dog but two people arguing over it.  In a previous post, I wrote about a case that had two dogs in dispute during a separation, and each partner ended up receiving one dog each. The judge seemed to take a broad approach to deciding. There is also an intuitive dimension where it's easier to say, 'Keep one each and call it a day.' But in the case I'm about to introduce, the dog could not be split two ways and it appears that the classic way of finding out who owns something was used by the judge to decide who got to keep the dog. The classic way is finding out who is the registered owner (or, who is on title).  In this case , the dog was a Boxer named Layla.  Photo credit: IslandHopp...

Your Dear Pet and Family Law  You've had a long and hard day. As soon as you walk in the door, there's your dog there to great you and so happy to see you. It's like therapy. But when two people separate, they will have to negotiate who gets certain property in the division or equalization of their assets. If they can’t agree, a court will decide.  The question comes up, Who gets the dog? If there’s more than one, Who gets which dog? And so on for whatever beloved pet or animal that we have had during the relationship. We have such a strong emotional connection with our pets. This is one more stressful aspect to layer on to the other aspects of separation and divorce that people have to deal with. The emotional support that one gets from their pet may be a major coping mechanism to see them through the divorce. Legal Status of Animals in Ontario In the eyes of the law, pets are personal property. There are laws that govern how we are to treat pets or how many we are permitt...