What happens to your pet in case of separation?
Verified 20 October 2023 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
One pet is a living being endowed with sensitivity. However, it shall continue to be regarded as property unless a provision provides otherwise.
In case of separation, no text provides for any special provision regarding your pet. Consequently, in the event of separation, the pet is subjected to the same conditions rules than your couple's other possessions.
These rules vary depending on whether you live in a common-law relationship, whether you were in or out of marriage:
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You were a married couple
Without a marriage contract
If you were married without a marriage contract, i.e. under the community reduced to acquisitions, the animal purchased or adopted before your marriage remains the property of the spouse who acquired or adopted it.
On the other hand, if the animal was bought or adopted during your marriage, it is considered a common property of the two spouses, whether it was bought or adopted by only one of you or by you 2.
In this case, you decide by mutual agreement, who keeps the animal.
In the event of disagreement, the judge decides.
With marriage contract
The ownership of the animal is fixed according to the provisions of your contract.
You were cohabiting or past
If the animal was bought or adopted by only one of you, it belongs to that person. It keeps it in case of separation.
The same is true if any of you acquired or adopted the animal prior to cohabitation or Civil partnership.
On the other hand, if the animal was bought or adopted by the 2 members of the couple, it is considered as a undivided property, i.e. as belonging to the two members of the couple.
The same applies if the couple member who bought or adopted the animal cannot prove its purchase or adoption and the other couple member also claims ownership of the animal.
In these two cases, you decide by mutual agreement, who keeps the animal.
In the event of disagreement, the judge decides.