Can i get full custody of a dog?

Question

im going through a bad break up and my ex and i both are fighting over the dog..Can i get a lawyer for this matter if this were to go to court?

Answer 1

The dog will be treated as property, not a child.  If you cannot agree who owns the dog, then it is possible to get a court to decide, although it will not be a divorce court.  Declaratory judgments are not available in small claims court, so you would be in the general court and can expect to spend thousands trying to get a decision,  You might want to consider acting like adults instead.  If you do not agree, then negotiate.  Anything other than asking a court to decide your differences.

Answer 2

who does the dog belong to is what it comes down to.

Answer 3

Well, you can, but does it have to come to that?  My word, can't we all just get along?

How about you agree on shared custody and split what the legal costs would have been?  A decent lawyer charges $500 to $750 per hour and usually a $5,000 retainer.

Answer 4

In a divorce (as in married people breaking up) a dog would be included in a property settlement. Property settlements are included because when people get married, they have community property rights.

In a you and your shack up girlfriend are splitting up, and she tossed you out of the apartment situation, there is no property settlement, because there was no marriage, so there was no community property. In that case the dog would be the property of the registered owner, same as the TV would be the property of whomever had paid for it.

If you never bothered to get the dog registered....sigh.  

If you never got the dog registered, then go register the dog and become the dog's registered owner.