NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Pets can be like children. So in cases of divorce or annulment, who gets to keep them?
A bill making its way through the state legislature could provide guidance to solve that.
"Every day we deal with custody, visitation, division of property, division of assets, division of debts — those kind of things," said Rob Turner, managing attorney of Nashville Law Offices PLLC.
Turner said currently, pets are treated as property, "and the court basically makes the determination based upon what the ownership is," he said. "Who's on the registration? Who's been paying the bills? Etc. etc."
But the proposed legislation, sponsored by Rep. Caleb Hemmer, D-Nashville, and Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, would allow a court in a divorce proceeding to decide ownership of pets by taking into consideration the pet's 'well-being'.
"It is you had this animal together and who would better take care of the animal? Who's in a better position to take care of the animal?" Turner said.
With the new focus on the animal's well-being, that means the original pet owner may not always receive custody.
"It shows that Tennessee is an animal-loving state," said Turner. "Because it's not who bought the piece of property? It's who loves the dog the most?"
While the law could help settle custody disputes, some attorneys say it could open to the door to even more litigation ahead.
