Pet-nup

More and more couples are living together before committing to marriage in modern day Britain, and this has created the need for pre-nuptial agreements, pre-marital agreements or pre-civil partnership agreements in order to protect their assets if they should ever part ways. But what happens if you have a pet together? Who decides who gets to keep Fido?

The Blue Cross have addressed this situation by producing a ‘pet-nup’ – a legal document for couples who need to declare what will happen to their pet in the event of splitting up.

The charity, after partnering with divorce lawyers, Lloyd Platt and Company, created the pet-nup after their research revealed that four pets are taken in every week by the animal charity due to relationship breakdowns, resulting in an extra 1,000 animals in their re-homing centres in the last five years alone.

They hope that the creation of such a document will stop the number of pets getting caught up in distressing marital disputes around the country by means of court battles or re-homing centres.

The free legally binding contract, which can be downloaded from the Blue Cross website, sets out the right of ownership in the event of a divorce or relationship breakdown and covers details such as ongoing pet care.

In addition, The Blue Cross has also created a simple Deed of Agreement that sets out who will take ownership in the event of a break-up.

Most people will view their pets as one of the family, with dogs and cats being the most fought over pets in divorce cases, followed by horses, rabbits and guinea pigs. So no matter the pet, deciding who takes the pet can be a continuing cause for contention.

The pet-nup is essential for any responsible pet owners considering tying the knot, as it will prevent the extra heartache of losing a relationship with their pet in the event of a breakup.