Horses And Divorces

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258 – March/April, 2025

By William Given

She gets the house and the SUV. He gets the boat and minivan. She gets custody of the children. He gets two weekends a month and a few hours on Wednesday evenings for visitation. However, far too often, little thought is given as to who gets the animals. Dividing the acquired marital assets is a necessary task for every couple contemplating a divorce, but the fate of the family’s treasured equine companion needs to be considered with more importance than who gets grandmother’s sterling silver tea service or grandfather’s Black Forest cuckoo clock.

Crowded court calendars have caused the courts to require couples to go to mediation in order to create parenting plans and determine an equitable division of household property and assets. These arrangements save couples money, save time for the courts and allows judges to make these agreements part of the divorce decree.

Like the cuckoo clock and the tea set, your horse is considered personal property. The horse will not be the beneficiary of a custody determination. However, if a couple can work out an agreement concerning the care and maintenance of the horse, the court will likely enforce it.

If you consider your horse a member of your family, you are not alone. Many horse owners consider their equine companion to be a part of their family. It is common for people to form a strong emotional bond with their horse, often treating them with the same care and affection as other family members. Conflicts involving their horse can be just as important to divorcing spouses as any issue when both spouses have developed a special affection for their horse and wish to keep it.

Click here to read the complete article
258 – March/April, 2025