‘My ex wants me to pay back $13,000 for dog and vet bills’

An Aussie woman is pleading for help after being pestered by her ex to pay back $13,000 in bills for their shared French bulldog.

‘During the relationship, I paid for all Gigi’s food and accessories’. Picture: iStock

Welcome to Sisters In Law, news.com.au’s weekly column solving all of your legal problems. This week, our resident lawyers and real-life sisters Alison and Jillian Barrett from Maurice Blackburn discuss the trials of owning a pet with an ex.

Question: Three years ago, my ex bought a French bulldog, Gigi, for $8000. We broke up a few weeks ago, and while we’re not fighting over custody – she’s happy for me to keep our pup – she’s insisting I need to repay her not only the initial purchase cost, but also for three years of very expensive vet bills – around an extra $5000. I don’t think this is fair – during the relationship, I paid for all Gigi’s food and accessories and took over the majority of the caring responsibilities, including feeding her, taking her to and from the vet and doggie daycare, training and taking her for walks. There’s no way I can afford this $13,000 hit and I feel like she’s taking advantage of me. Can she force me to pay this ludicrous bill? – Sarah, Victoria

‘During the relationship, I paid for all Gigi’s food and accessories’. Picture: iStock

Answer: We’re sorry to hear you’re going through a break-up, and also that you now can’t reach an agreement on your pet Gigi.

You haven’t mentioned how long you and your ex were together, and whether you lived together. For the purposes of our advice, we’ve assumed that you lived together for at least two years, so were in a genuine de facto relationship.

We’ve also assumed that your ex bought Gigi for herself, rather than as a gift for you.

You also haven’t specified if you have a binding financial agreement (commonly called a ‘pre-nup’) that was entered into prior to living together, or an agreement about Gigi in the event your relationship broke down.

Prenups are relatively rare, and it’s unlikely you reached an agreement about Gigi when she was bought, so we’ll work on the basis you don’t have one.

Pets as family

While many people consider their pets to be family members, the Family Law Act has no specific provisions for pets, and they are considered property when couples separate.

Prenups are relatively rare. Picture: iStock

Property isn’t divided by the courts on the basis that if one person purchased it, the other then must pay the full purchase price if they keep it.

Instead, the courts will consider factors such as:

• The value of the property now (Gigi may have depreciated in value)

• Each person’s financial contribution to the property (such as Gigi’s initial purchase price, vet bills and food costs)

• The non-financial contributions each person made to the property (such as training and care)

Gigi may have ‘depreciated in value’.

The above applies for all property from the relationship, so if you purchased, for example, a car, TV, or furniture together, then all of that should be considered when dividing the property pool.

Like most legal disputes, any payment for the ongoing ownership of Gigi would be best dealt with out of the court system by way of an agreement.

If you can’t come to an agreement, you can use the family dispute resolution or mediation process through the Family Court system.

If you were to reach an agreement in this way it won’t be legally enforceable, despite the agreement reflecting your intentions.

To secure legally enforceable orders about your pet, you would need to deal with ownership of the pet like you would your property or assets and make a binding financial agreement, or bring an application for consent orders in court to reflect what is agreed.

This legal information is general in nature and should not be regarded as specific legal advice or relied upon. Persons requiring particular legal advice should consult a solicitor.

If you have a legal question you would like Alison and Jillian to answer, please email [e-mail]. Get more from Alison and Jillian on their Facebook page.

Originally published as ‘My ex wants me to pay back $13,000 for dog and vet bills’