What Are Pet Prenuptials? The Rise of Pet Nups

Whilst non pet owners will understandably  think what what follows might be some sort of April Fool joke, it is our experience that a pet, very often a much loved dog, can cause huge amounts of destress to a separating couple.  A Pet Prenuptial Agreement, also known as a pet prenup, a petnuptial, or a ‘pet nup’ for short, is a plan drawn up before you get married to determine who gets ownership of the dog, cat or other companion animal during a subsequent divorce. However crazy this may seem to those who do not have pets, such an agreement, or the issues it may raise, will be helpful to those whose pets really are a part of the family .

So, for pet lovers, like any prenuptial agreement, a pet prenup aims to take some of the stress and doubt out of any future separation. It should mean that there are no arguments during your divorce or civil partnership dissolution.

Pet custody can be a very emotional issue, especially if you co-own a much-loved dog or cat, and discover partway through your divorce that you don’t agree about who the animal should live with once you separate.

For many people, the pet is part of the family. Marcia Mediation’s family mediators can help you to draw up a pet nup to decide who gets pet custody if you split up in the future, without the unnecessary stress and heartache.

What is a pet prenuptial?

Pets and divorce are a difficult combination. When deciding who gets pet custody, the courts will typically treat them as property, rather than as a family member.

A pet prenuptial agreement is a document drawn up in advance which tells the court what you have agreed regarding pet custody, ownership, residency and other such issues.

It’s a way to bring a pet into a marriage or civil partnership, with the confidence that it will not become a pawn in your divorce or dissolution negotiations, if the relationship doesn’t work out over the long term.

What is a pet prenuptial used for?

A pet prenup can set out a range of criteria, and should cover all of the essentials to avoid any disputes during the divorce process.

Some elements you might wish to include in your petnuptial agreement:

• Who will take legal ownership of the pet after divorce
• Who will have access and visitation rights to the pet
• Who will pay the costs of owning and feeding the pet
• Who will pay additional fees like insurance and vets’ bills
• Who will have decision-making responsibilities (e.g. for veterinary treatment)

While it can be tempting to say “we’ll split the costs evenly” or “we’ll alternate weeks with the pet”, it’s better to have a clear and specific agreement in place.

This can also allow you to put a backup plan in place – for example, if one party is unable to take responsibility of the pet for their usual visit, or cannot pay their share of vet fees, it can be useful to have alternative arrangements already agreed in advance.

How are pets handled in divorce?

In general, pets are treated as property during divorce, and ownership will be awarded accordingly.

This can lead to circumstances where a dog or cat was purchased as a gift for a partner, but the proof of ownership is in the name of the buyer – and therefore, custody of the pet may be granted to the buyer and not the pet’s emotional companion.

A pet nup doesn’t just protect both parties involved in the dissolution or divorce. It also protects the pet, by ensuring it is able to stay with the human with whom it has formed the closest bond.

In more acrimonious divorces, this can avoid the extremely challenging situation whereby one party uses legal ownership of the pet as a bargaining chip to make unfair demands, e.g. “I want the house or I’m taking the dog.”

How is custody of a pet decided?

Without a pet nup agreement in place, the court will look at various evidence of ownership in order to decide who gets pet custody.

Some of the documentation a family court might consider includes:

• Proof of purchase (i.e. who paid for the pet initially)
• Registered ownership at time of purchase
• Registered owner during recent vet visits
• The named owner/contact on the pet’s microchip
• The named owner on the pet’s insurance policy
• Who paid recent vet fees and/or insurance premiums

(As an aside, this is one more reason why it’s important to keep your pet’s microchip details updated, so that the correct human owner and/or contact details are stored on the chip.)

None of this evidence is needed if a pet nup agreement is in place. Instead, you have a document you can show to the court to prove the promises you made upfront, removing the need for a judge to consider and balance all of the different criteria before making a decision that you might disagree with.

How case law affects who gets pet custody

A pet custody agreement can also protect you against changes in case law. One such example is the case of FI v DO [2024] EWFC 384 (B) at the Manchester Family Court on December 20th 2024.

The case involved a dispute between a separating couple over who should take custody of their dog. While the full details are complex, here are some of the specifics:

• The husband claimed that he paid £1,200 for the dog, had registered it as a Disability Support dog, and sought £39,600 in lost earnings from potentially breeding the dog in the future.
• The wife claimed that she paid £280, her daughter paid £320, and the husband paid £600. She added that the Disability Support registration was made after the couple had already separated.

District Judge Crisp ruled in this case that the initial purchase of the dog was irrelevant. Instead, the judge noted that during an encounter in public, the dog ran away from the husband and towards the property where it lived with the wife.

“It was clear when the dog ran back to the family home after he had been taken by the husband that the dog considered that to be a safe place and where he belonged,” the judge ruled.

“The dog’s home is with the wife, and she should stay there. It would be upsetting for both the dog and the children were those arrangements to alter.”

Although there was disagreement about who had paid for the dog, the judge stated that that was “not as important as who the dog sees as her carer” – a ruling that could muddy the waters even further for future couples separating without a pet nup in place.

Are pet prenups on the rise in 2025?

The number of pet prenuptial agreements in the UK has been rising steadily in recent years. In the three years to 2022, Direct Line Pet Insurance reported a 20% increase in demand for pet nups.

According to their research, nearly half (46%) of all pet owners who split up from their partner believe that their pet’s health was negatively affected as a result.

And more than a quarter (27%) of divorces involved pet custody – with divorce lawyers disagreeing on the most important criteria when deciding who gets pet custody.

Direct Line found that when asked for the key factor in determining pet custody, lawyers said:

• Who pays for daily care (42%)
• Who is listed as owner on paperwork (28%)
• Who is primary caregiver (12%)

Alarmingly, 16% of people surveyed said they would consider having their pet put down if their relationship ended, highlighting the extreme circumstances that can develop during divorce disputes.

How mediation can help with petnuptial agreements

With all of the above taken into account, it’s much better to have the confidence, security and peace of mind that comes from agreeing to a pet prenup in advance.

There may still be some negotiations involved, and family mediators are in the perfect position to help with that, by keeping the focus on reaching an amicable arrangement that you can legally enforce if the time comes.

Whether you are married, in a civil partnership, cohabiting, or simply sharing responsibility for a treasured pet, speak to Marcia Mediation today and we can help you to draw up a pet nup that protects all parties – including your much-loved dog, cat or other companion.