People often wonder what will happen to their pets if they get divorced. Florida, like most other states, considers pets property for purposes of making this decision. This means that, unlike children, courts will not analyze the best interests of the pet, order pet support, or in most cases award visitation. The court will consider the dog, cat, bird, horse, guinea pig or other pet property and award the pet to one spouse the same way it would other marital assets.

While courts may have this perspective when it comes to animals, most pet owners would strongly disagree. Some couples will fight for years in court to determine who gets the family pet. Other couples find that one of the only topics they can still relate on is their puppy, fish, iguana, etc. Enter pet mediators. A mediator aims to resolve conflict between parties. In Florida, mediation is ordered in certain cases before the parties can proceed to trial. In Palm Beach County, divorcing couples must attend mediation before they can move forward with their case. Pet mediators market their services to divorcing couples to help them agree on what is best for the pet. Individual pet mediators have their own techniques and policies. Charles Regal, a pet mediator with a master’s degree in social work and mediation training certification, asks couples not to bring pets to mediation due to the stress it may cause the animal. He does, however, request that couples bring a photo of the pet to re-focus the parties if they lose sight of the goal of attaining a solution that is in the best interest of the pet.

Mediators may not be able to solve all of the issues in a divorce case, but certainly any issue that a couple is able to agree on will be one less issue to argue over in court. Click here to read the full article on pet mediators.