What happens to pets in a separation

What changed in 2025

For a long time the Family Law Act contained nothing about pets. A dog was an item of property, valued and allocated the same way as a couch.

That never matched how people actually feel about their animals, and it produced outcomes clients found difficult to accept.

The Family Law Amendment Act 2024 (Cth) changed it. From 10 June 2025, companion animals are dealt with expressly within the property provisions in section 79 of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth), alongside the restructured framework in section 79(5).

The available orders are narrower than for children. A court can order that a companion animal be transferred to one party, be sold, or be transferred to another person who consents to take it. There is no order for shared care of a pet, and no order equivalent to a parenting order.

What the court must consider

Before making an order about a companion animal, a court must consider a specific list of matters, which includes:

• the circumstances in which the animal was acquired;
• who has ownership or possession of the animal;
• the extent to which each party cared for and paid for the animal;
• any family violence to which one party has subjected the other;
• any history of actual or threatened cruelty or abuse towards the animal;
• the attachment of each party, and of any child of the relationship, to the animal;
• the demonstrated ability of each party to care for the animal in the future, including their capacity to meet its needs;
• any other matter the court considers relevant.

Two of those deserve emphasis. Threatening a pet is a recognised form of family violence and now feeds directly into who keeps the animal. And a child’s attachment to the animal is a listed factor, which it was not before.

A companion animal is one kept primarily for companionship. Working animals, assistance animals and animals kept for business purposes are treated differently.

Why mediation still resolves this better

The change gives a court a proper framework. It does not make litigating about a dog a sensible use of money.

The costs of a contested hearing will usually exceed anything the animal could be valued at, several times over, and the court still cannot order shared care.

What the change does is give the issue real bargaining weight in a negotiation. If your former partner wants the dog and you have the stronger position on the listed factors, that is a card worth holding.

Raise it early with your family lawyer as part of the overall settlement rather than treating it as a loose end. See our page on family dispute resolution.

Practical evidence to gather

If this is going to be argued, the evidence is mundane and easy to assemble.

• Purchase or adoption records, and who paid.
• Council registration and microchip records, and whose name is on them.
• Veterinary records and invoices, and who paid them.
• Pet insurance policies, food and grooming expenses.
• Where the animal has lived since separation, and for how long.
• Photographs and messages showing the animal with each party and with any children.
• Evidence of accommodation suitable for the animal after separation, including whether a tenancy permits pets.
• For a show or working animal, any relevant membership, registration or licence held by one party only.

Possession since separation carries real weight. If the animal has been settled with one party for eighteen months, that is difficult to unwind.