--- description: Pets will be treated more similarly to children than property in Alaskan divorce courts, thanks to a new amendment. title: These Divorce Courts Will Now Treat Pets Like Kids image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58b1a111147e4531/6988b722cf40a83274c462fa/alaska-divorce-court-pets-kids.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # These Divorce Courts Will Now Treat Pets Like Children  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 25, 2017 7:37 PM CUT  Young smiling couple having a picnic in nature, playing along with their pet Young smiling couple having a picnic in nature, playing along with their petGetty Images  by [Cady Lang](/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 25, 2017 7:37 PM CUT [Breaking up is hard to do](http://time.com/4358792/woman-age-married-how-long/ "undefined"), even without having to divvy up your shared earthly possessions, but a new amendment to Alaska’s divorce statuses set in motion last week is changing the way that divorcing couples will be able to lay claim to their pets, [shifting animal friends to more of a family law context than a property law one](http://time.com/money/4556235/estate-planning-leave-money-pet/ "undefined"). Alaska now requires courts to take “into consideration the well-being of the animal,” according to [_The Washington Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2017/01/24/in-a-first-alaska-divorce-courts-will-now-treat-pets-more-like-children/?utm%5Fterm=.95878d3cdb7f "undefined"), and gives judges the power to assign joint custody of pets, a move that the Animal Legal Defense Fund called “groundbreaking and unique” [in a blog post on their site](http://aldf.org/blog/alaska-legislature-becomes-first-to-require-consideration-of-animals-interests-in-custody-cases/ "undefined"). The [Alaskan bill](http://www.ktva.com/legislature-passes-bill-providing-new-protections-for-pets-in-alaska-928/ "undefined") also gives courts the option to include pets in domestic violence protective orders and mandates that pet owners will need to pay for the cost of sheltering animals seized in cruelty or neglect cases. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4648514/pets-divorce-law/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4648514/pets-divorce-law/"},"headline":"These Divorce Courts Will Now Treat Pets Like Children","datePublished":"2017-01-25T19:37:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:40:26.543Z","description":"A new way to consider \"who gets the dog?\"","url":"https://time.com/4648514/pets-divorce-law/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Alaska","Entertainment","animals","Divorce","Humor","Culture"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58b1a111147e4531/6988b722cf40a83274c462fa/alaska-divorce-court-pets-kids.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58b1a111147e4531/6988b722cf40a83274c462fa/alaska-divorce-court-pets-kids.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"On a picnic with my family","caption":"On a picnic with my family","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4648514/pets-divorce-law/","name":"These Divorce Courts Will Now Treat Pets Like Children"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Here's What We Pay For Our Animal Friends","description":"MONEY VIDEO","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/VlBhFT90/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-10-25T19:44:42.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/VlBhFT90.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4648514/pets-divorce-law/","duration":"PT1M20S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4648514/pets-divorce-law/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```