A Divorce Attorney in Poulsbo WA helps clients when the divorcing couple cannot agree on who should keep certain property they technically both own. Lawyers have become increasingly accustomed to dealing with couples arguing over who gets the family pets, for example. Legally, those animals are property and the court doesn’t view the pets as part of a custody issue. If the couple takes the problem to trial, they both risk the judge making a rather arbitrary decision. Mediation or a collaborative process tends to be best to negotiate about this type of problem.
Another complicating factor is when the animals are actually worth a fair bit of money and can be considered assets. The ownership of horses is a prime example that leads to extra conflict during divorce. The couple may have paid for the animals out of a mutual account, but they both may understand that one or the other is the actual owner. That person is the one who rides the horses, feeds them, and perhaps even brings them to shows, rodeos and riding events. The other spouse may try to acquire the animals in a divorce settlement if the split is contentious.
Even if one spouse owned horses before the marriage, the other can make a claim to them if he or she contributed financially in a relevant way afterward. If that spouse routinely paid for feed or contributed financially to a horse barn, these may be complicating factors in a judge’s viewpoint. If any of the horses had offspring that are still part of the herd, those animals might also be considered community property.
A Divorce Attorney in Poulsbo WA may stop the other spouse from obtaining the horses when there is little to no evidence that he or she has any interest in them. The other spouse will probably need to pay for their value in some way, however. That generally means giving up part of the assets in the settlement in return for the horses.
