Horse/Animal ownership in divorce...?

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OneTrickPony

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Hi everyone,

I'm desperately in need of some advice. I think my parents are likely to seperate in the next fews weeks (right over Christmas - great), and I'm really worried about the animals as I expect it will get nasty.

I'm only in my early 20's and I still live at home which makes it all the harder. I'm not worried about my animals as they are in my name - am I right in thinking that? What about the cat and dog though - they're officially 'owned' by Mum and Dad - so what do we do about ensuring their safety?

I want them to stay with my Mum ... Dad won't look after them properly.

Has anyone had experience with this? Any replies would be very much appreciated as I am utterly DEVESTATED. Also, if you can think of anything important that I haven't mentioned then please let me know!

Thank you x
 
Hi,

Firstly, I am really sorry you have to go through this. It's really tough at any age.

Secondly, I am really sorry to break this to you but in respect of the law.... All marital assets must be divided equally in any subsequent divorce. This includes, buildings, pensions, debt and any livestock/pets. However, your parents wont want to hurt you will they? I mean they will want to hurt each other but surely not you? Just ask them for the animals? Do you think they will go for that?

Its just awful. Feel crappy for you

X
 
Sorry to hear that you're all about to go through this. Been there. It does get much better, so hold onto that thought!

Try talking to your parents about the cat and dog, but understand that those two animals are very unlikely to be at the top of either parent's priority list at the moment.

With regard to your horses. Did you buy them? Who paid for them? Were they presents to you? Are the passports in your name (I don't think the passport name is binding re. ownership, but I may well be wrong).

Are you a Gold member of the BHS? If so, try calling their helpline.

I hope it all works out as well as it can.
 
Hi, sorry for you over christmas i am going through the same husband told me last week he was leaving. I have a horse and five cats all of which i pay and care for he hasn,t shown any interest in having them, but if he did i would pick on something he loves like his sports car. my daughter is your age and she is finding this all very distressing, i hope it works out ok for your mum and you.x
 
really sorry to hear your news, as someone said above it's hard no matter how old you are!
if your dad is a reasonable person then you could ask him if he'd mind you keeping the cat and dog, would your mum want to keep them?

i know if i ever got divorced then i would be able to keep all the animals without any trouble from my OH, he accepts they are mine even though he bought them for me, maybe your dad would be thinking the same way?!
 
Thank you all for your replies. I'm really sorry to hear that some of you have been through it too - I just can't imagine how awful this is going to be, but good to know that you have come out the other end.

I doubt that he will be reasonable about the animals -that is one of the reasons why it has all fallen apart - his compelete lack of reason & understanding!!

I was hoping that we could have the cat & dog transferred into my name, as that has been the case with cars/horses previously. But I don't know if there will be an issue round that :(

I'm not a member of the BHS but is there anywhere else that you're aware of where we could go for advice/support?

x
 
When my parents divorced when I was 12 i had 2 ponies, Charlie who I have now and Max, a little 12.2.

My dad went through the courts to try to get them sold as he claimed he bought them. Thankfully my mum was able to take MY bank statements and receipts and stuff to prove that Charlie was paid for entirely by me. Unfortunately my mum bought Max for me out of their joint account so he got sold. Horses and other animals are considered property by the courts so they get treated like a car or something would :(

Not spoken to my dad really since then. Such an evil thing to do.
 
UnaB that is awful, I'm so sorry to hear that. I suspect I will end up similar to you and not really speaking to dad much after ... you think you know someone and then they shock you by doing and saying horrid things!!
 
riding_high - thank you, that's what I feared! I think I'm going to have to wait until it settles down a bit ... fingers crossed no one's going anywhere yet as we don't have anywhere to go! But I will try and broach the subject to get them all secured.
 
Firstly, sorry to hear about your situation.

Secondly, as people have said, animals are treated as property by the english legal system. However, unless your cats/dogs are used for breeding or showing, I cannot imagine that anyone would consider that they would have a value beyond a nominal value. Therefore it would not be a situation where they could be sold, but a question as to who has custody. I have heard of people having joint custody of dogs before. However it sounds like it would be unlikely that it would go to this as this requires significant effort from both parties - equivalent to handing over children at the weekend. Also, looking after the animals costs money so realistically, although I would imagine that your dad would use the animals as a bargaining chip to obtain other items, and perhaps achieve a better settlement, it would seem unlikely that ultimately the animals would not end up living with you/your mum. I would suggest your mum brings up the animal situation with her solicitor. It will not be the first time they have had to negotiate the animals' future.

(As you say, you consider that both parents are the owners of the animals, therefore you would need both of their permission to transfer ownership.)

Hope everything works out.

ETA: Obviously if you can sort this out between you (i.e. the animal situation) without having to get the solicitor involved that would be easiest and best for everyone.
 
bigfathen, thanks for the advice. I'm really hoping that it can be worked out as amicably as possible, like you suggest.

I suppose because it's the week before Xmas & we're snowed in it makes it a little more difficult as there's too much time to think about eventualities! Nobody will be going anywhere yet as they don't actually have anywhere to go to, so hopefully it will calm down and be slightly less emotional than it is right now in a little while.

Thanks everyone for your kind words too, it's very much appreciated x
 
Nasty, so sorry to hear your parents are likely to split. When my parents did so, many moons ago, my mum was the one who wanted to keep the cats/horse so she automatically got them. If not, and the split does happen, talk to your dad about it.

Once again, so sorry to hear you're going through this right over Xmas.. *Big hugs*
 
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