Q. My fiancé and I are getting married next July, and we have the usual assets, some retirement, some investments, a house, and a dog named Showgirl who we adopted together last year.  My fiancé moved into my house after dating for a year – that’s when we got Showgirl.  We take turns (whoever is available) walking Showgirl, feeding her, buying treats, and we bring her to the vet for her appointments together.  Both our names are on the vet’s records for Showgirl and on the adoption paperwork.

Is there any way we can establish a custody schedule for Showgirl in the event we divorce?  I heard that you can’t make an agreement that determines custody before the wedding but I’m not sure that is true.

A. Being a dog lover myself, I cringe a little at what I am about to say.  As much as you love Showgirl – in the eyes of the law she is not a child but, rather, property.  Whether or not you planned to get a prenuptial agreement to deal with your other assets, you absolutely should get a “pup-nup” before your wedding.

Because Showgirl is a dog and not a child, the child custody rules that prevent you from establishing custody and parenting plans in a prenuptial agreement do not apply here. You can absolutely create a plan for who Showgirl spends time with and when in a pre-marital contract.  While you are at it, you should also address who pays for the vet, who pays for any medication or pet insurance, who pays for the groomer and the dogwalker, etc.  You could share these things equally or in proportion to your respective incomes.

Another thing to consider is whether you will both be in a position to care for her half of the time in the event of a divorce.  Not everyone has the means to move right into another house, and not all rentals allow pets. I have seen people agree to share custody the way parents do of children, but I have also seen people decide it might be too confusing for the dog to go back and forth all the time so maybe one person is designated to take care of her whenever the other travels.  Regardless of how you structure it, because Showgirl is a dog, you can absolutely create a pre-marital contract to control what happens in the event of a divorce.

Email questions to whickey@brickjones.com