Pets and family separation

Family pets

The law sets out some rules for dealing with disputes over family pets during a relationship breakdown. A family pet is an animal owned by a married or de facto couple primarily for companionship, such as a dog, cat, rabbit or bird. 

This doesn’t include:

• assistance animals, such as guide dogs
• animals kept for a business
• agricultural animals, also known as livestock
• animals used for laboratory testing or experiments.

Making an agreement

Where possible, you and your ex-partner should try to reach an agreement about how you will care for your family pets. This is the quickest, easiest and cheapest way to settle this matter.

If you and your ex-partner reach an agreement, you don’t need to go to mediation or court. However, you should put your agreement in writing. There are three types of agreements you can make:

• an informal agreement,
• a binding financial agreement
• consent orders.

For more information, see Property settlement agreements.

If you can’t reach an agreement, you can apply for court orders for ownership of your family pets. Before you can do this, you must follow the pre-action procedures and attempt mediation, unless you are exempt.

For more information, see Pre-action procedures in property cases.

Court orders

The court can make interim and final orders about family pets, including consent orders.

The court can make orders:

• giving one person sole ownership of a pet
• transferring ownership of a pet from one person to another
• requiring that a pet be sold.

The court can’t make an order for shared ownership or shared care.

What the court will consider

When deciding what orders to make, the court will take into account:

• how you got your pet
• who owns your pet
• who has cared for your pet, and paid your pets expenses
• who can care for your pet in the future by themselves
• any family violence
• threats or acts of cruelty or abuse towards your pet
• your relationship, and your child’s relationship, with your pet
• anything else that is relevant.

Other animals

There are no specific rules to deal with disputes about animals that are not family pets. If you and your ex-partner own animals that are not family pets, should try to reach an agreement about how you are going to care for them.

If you can’t reach an agreement, you will need to resolve your dispute in the same way you resolve any dispute about property. Under the law, these animals are considered property of the relationship and will be treated like the rest of the property in a property settlement.