Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams
TMZ reports that Mandy Moore and Ryan Adams are trying to resolve custody of the six
dogs and two cats the pair accumulated during their marriage. Despite
Adams promising to take two of the pets with him, Moore has been saddled
with all eight of their furry children since the couple split up in January
2015. As such, she has filed new court documents in their divorce requesting
that Adams pay her
$37,000 per month in interim support for herself and the animals and that he take custody of four pets.
Case law suggests that if Moore were an Ontario citizen making such a claim,
the Ontario family courts likely could not – and would not –
resolve pet-related issues arising from their separation. Generally, family
courts are unwilling to consider claims relating to custody, access, support,
expenses, or even the partition and sale of pets.
Family courts in Ontario also simply do not have the jurisdiction to deal
with pet-related issues in matrimonial matters. Since pets are legally
property, they do not fall under any legal definition of child under family
law legislation; the laws and principles relating to child support, custody
and access most definitely do not apply. Any rights a spouse may have
to a dog, cat, or gerbil would be governed by applicable animal related
legislation, if any, or property law in general.
Ultimately, the family law system is not interested in resolving pet-related
issues, despite of the hardship of caring for pets, the animal’s value,
or the love and affection people have for their beloved non-human companions.
Given the backlog in the family courts, judges would prefer to allocate
their limited resources to resolving more urgent and pressing issues.
As such, Ontario separating spouses fighting over their pets are out of
luck with respect to judicial intervention. If Moore resided in Ontario,
her only avenue for recourse would be trying to negotiate an arrangement
with Adams outside of the court system. Back in April, we
blogged about the dispute resolution options available to Moore and Adams in the
process of their separation such as negotiation, mediation, arbitration,
to mediation/arbitration, or even
collaborative family law. These out-of-court processes offer spouses the flexibility to make an
arrangement that works best for them and their animal companions.
Separating pet parents looking ahead post-separation arrangements for their
beloved pets need to think outside of court. A family lawyer can assist
with resolving pet-related disputes along with other issues arising from
separation.