Are pets property or members of the family? Until recently in American history, pets have merely been property in a cute and playful package. Yes, the dog was fun to play fetch with, and the cat was adorable, but they were still just considered property. However, the recent increase of “pet custody” cases give credence to the idea that pets are more than just a purchase from the pet store. Our animals are considered to be part of the family, tagging along on road trips, sleeping in our beds, and, now, part of some custody battles in divorce cases.

The Humane Society of America estimates  that 39% of U.S. households own at least one dog, and 33% of U.S. households own at least one cat. As most divorces show, people tend to fight over who gets what: who gets the car, who gets the house, who gets custody of the kids, etc. so it naturally makes sense that a divorcing couple would disagree over who can keep Spot or Ms. Kitty.

Ann Hartwell Britton, in an article by published by The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, clarifies how pet custody decisions are likely to be determined in court, “The party that can prove the strongest ownership rights, . . . by showing proof with receipts of purchase and veterinary care, can build a strong case for keeping the animal, whether that person has suitable housing for the animal or not.” So, the party who can show they financially provided for the pet is the party who generally gets custody.

But courts around the nation react to pet custody disputes in a variety of ways, from open hostility, to indignation, to complete understanding. Based on the jurisdiction and the individual judge, the family pet may go to the person who pays for its food and vet bills, or it may go to the person who showed it the most love and attention, or the judge may decide an alternative arrangement. Other than custody, which may or may not be ruled on by a court, pet support is often an issue in these cases. Britton goes on to explain in her article that, “pet support is best negotiated in an out-of-court settlement because courts that view pets as property will not order support.”

So, ultimately, who gets the dog?  Britton opines based on her analysis of the case law that it truly depends on which jurisdiction the case is in, and who the judge is. She does go on to claim that “it is high time we recognize our pets as more than mere property and dispose of archaic thinking that a dog’s ‘plight doesn’t amount to a handful of kibble when a couple splits up.’”

Family law is an area of the law that deals with family-related matters and domestic relations.  The family law attorneys at Luxenberg & Johnson, PC have strong expertise in all areas of domestic relations, including:

• Divorce negotiations, settlement and litigation
• Mediation
• Collaborative law
• Alimony and spousal support
• International family cases
• Child custody and support
• Best interest of the children
• Property identification, valuation and distribution
• Pre-nuptial agreements
• Agreements while married
• Separation and settlement agreements
• Domestic violence and spousal abuse

YOUR FAMILY

We define “FAMILY” in the broadest possible terms to include:

• Close and extended families
• Blood relatives
• Couples in formal marriages, with or without children
• Couples in civil unions, with or without children
• Couples in common law marriages, with or without children
• Couples living together
• Friends choosing to live together

We help you protect your family and yourself, by providing legal services that focus on your family. This blog is dedicated to empowering our clients, and the general public, when approaching their family law matters. Whether you are getting a divorce, seeking custody of your child, trying to handle domestic violence issues, or any other domestic relations matter, we do what we do for you.

Deborah Luxenberg will be included in the 2012 Top Rated Lawyers Guide to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).  Her  AV® Preeminent Rating on Martindale-Hubbell qualified her for inclusion in the new  listing of attorneys employing Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods.

The guide will be featured on law.com and is produced by ALM.

Deborah Luxenberg has been selected for the 2012 Super Lawyer rating.

Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.

Super Lawyers magazine features the list and profiles of selected attorneys and is distributed to attorneys in the state or region and the ABA-accredited law school libraries. Super Lawyers is also published as a special section in leading city and regional magazines across the country.

Deborah Luxenberg

visit superlawyers.com

Top peer ratings for Deborah Luxenberg have earned her inclusion in this year’s Martindale-Hubbell® Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers™.

Martindale-Hubbell peer review ratings are a valuable resource when evaluating a lawyer. Ratings reflects the confidential opinions of members of the Bar and the Judiciary.  Attorneys are rated based on performance in five key areas. These areas are

• Legal Knowledge - Lawyer’s familiarity with the laws governing his/her specific area of practice(s)
• Analytical Capabilities - Lawyer’s creativity in analyzing legal issues and applying technical knowledge
• Judgment - Lawyer’s demonstration of the salient factors that drive the outcome of a given case or issue.
• Communication Ability - Lawyer’s capability to communicate persuasively and credibly
• Legal Experience - Lawyer’s degree of experience in his/her specific area of practice(s)

Luxenberg received a top AV rating of 5.0 from both clients and peers.

Luxenberg is ranked by her peers as among the region’s top attorneys in the Baltimore and Washington DC’s Best Lawyers 2012 Edition, a supplement to the Wall Street Journal, The National Law Journal, the American Lawyer, and Corporate Counsel. The Best Lawyers ranking is based on more than 2.8 million evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.

Attorney Kim Hibsch ran the NYC Marathon on November 6, 2011 to raise money for cancer research for Fred’s Team of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Our beloved dog, Daisy, who accompanied us to the office every day and provided comfort to clients and all of us for 12 years, died in her sleep on November 26,2011.

Deborah Luxenberg was a presenter at a DC Bar training seminar entitled, “Divorce in the Golden Years” in September 2011. She also shared her expertise for a “Community Property for the East Coast Practitioner” seminar held for both the Montgomery County Bar (in November) and the DC Bar (March 2011).

Deborah Luxenberg described some of the challenges unmarried couples may face when splitting up after what, in some cases, may be years of living together (cohabitation).   The article, “If you don’t get married, it’s hard to get a divorce,” by lifestyle reporter Ellen McCarthy was in the Washington Post, October 3, 2011. 

http://tinyurl.com/WashingtonPost-Ellen-McCarthy