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Hi everyone, I’m Dr. Michael Mantell with another Family Law Matters, joining Bonnie Rabinovitch Mantel, who is the owner and managing partner of the very esteemed Primus Family Law Group here in San Diego. Hi, Bonnie. Thank you, Michael.

Hi, how are you doing today? I’m doing well. Bonnie, we have pets. You are a pet lover.

Care for pets. You’re walking the dogs every day. Hi, Bonnie.

I’m sorry, I can’t talk. I’m walking the dogs. You understand pet lovers, and you truly understand in a divorce when the issue isn’t necessarily child custody or moving away or something like that.

But who has custody of the pets? Hmm, interesting question. When I started in this practice, pets were considered property, and they were not something that people were going to discuss in court how to share. Now, thankfully, because I have many dogs, thankfully, they are considered family.

And so, you can now file motions for custody and visitation of your pets and your children. It can be decided that the pet will go with the children, you know, if both parents and the children are bonded to these pets. But you have to realize these pets have grown up with this family.

They love the person. They always have one person, and their person may be the spouse who’s no longer in the house. And you really have to consider that as to what’s good for the dogs and the cats and the children, because they’re the furry children.

Quite a while ago, I did an evaluation years ago, and they had a very cute poodle. Only trouble was the six-year-old girl was frightened of this poodle. And when it came to separation, the parent wanted to, with the child, obviously, had the poodle.

And the other parent was arguing, but the kid doesn’t want to be with a poodle. It was quite a complicated situation. You are a pet lover, and I think that gives you additional insight.

So, if people have questions about this, I can’t think of a better person, an attorney who has many pets, who cares about children, obviously, but certainly about the pet sensitivity. If they have questions, how can they reach you about this? They can reach us directly at 619-574-8000 or online at www.PrimusFamilyLaw.com. There’s a form you can fill out. There’s a live chat agent.

There’s our wonderful receptionist, Rosie. All roads lead to a free 30-minute telephone or Zoom consultation with either myself or one of my most amazing associates.