By Partner, Erika Wyatt
When a relationship ends, disputes over a treasured pet can be every bit as emotional as disputes over a home, finances, or other property. For years, Illinois courts generally treated pets like other personal property, and ownership documents often mattered when two people disagreed over who should keep a dog, cat, or other companion animal. But a new Illinois law recognizes what many pet owners have long understood: pets are not just property.
What Is Changing for Pet Custody in Illinois in 2027?
Beginning January 1, 2027, the Companion Animal Custody Equity Act will allow Illinois courts to consider a companion animal's well-being when resolving certain ownership disputes between unmarried people. The law applies to disputes involving domestic partners, former partners, cohabitants, fiancés, roommates, and others who can demonstrate shared responsibility for a pet.
How Does the New Illinois Pet Custody Law Affect Unmarried Couples?
The Act builds on changes Illinois made in 2018, when divorce courts were authorized to consider a companion animal's well-being when allocating ownership between spouses. While those protections existed in divorce cases, disputes involving unmarried individuals often relied on traditional property rules. The new law fills that gap by giving courts added tools to decide who should keep a companion animal when a relationship ends.
Does Pet Ownership Paperwork Determine Who Gets the Pet?
The most significant change is that ownership paperwork is no longer the whole story. Adoption records, registration documents, and purchase receipts remain important, but the new statute allows courts to consider ownership documentation without it being determinative on its own. In other words, a person's name on the paperwork does not automatically decide the issue.
Instead, courts may look at the animal's actual life and caregiving history. The law allows judges to consider who handled daily feeding, grooming, veterinary care, training, medication, exercise, and other routine responsibilities. Courts may also consider financial contributions toward the animal's care, each person's emotional bond with the pet, witness testimony, safety concerns, and the stability of the animal's living environment.
That raises a practical question: what evidence is likely to be most persuasive in court?
In many cases, the strongest evidence is proof of consistent, day-to-day involvement in the animal's care. Veterinary records identifying a person as the primary contact, invoices showing payment for medical care, training and grooming records, microchip registrations, pet insurance records, and receipts for food, medication, and other expenses may help establish a caregiving role. Courts may also consider photographs, text messages, emails, calendars, and testimony from veterinarians, trainers, groomers, neighbors, friends, or family members who observed the relationship between the animal and the parties involved. Because the statute focuses heavily on caregiving history and the animal's well-being, ongoing-care evidence may be more persuasive than a single adoption receipt.
What Happens When Two People Share Responsibility for a Pet?
The new law may also have important consequences for jointly owned pets. While Illinois is not creating a formal child-custody system for animals, the Act recognizes that many companion animals are cared for by more than one person. If an unmarried couple shared responsibility for a dog for years, a court is no longer limited to asking whose name appears on the adoption paperwork. Instead, the court can evaluate each person's involvement in caring for the animal and the relationship each person has developed with the pet.
In some situations, this may make it more difficult for one person to claim exclusive rights to a pet based solely on ownership documents when another person played a substantial role in the animal's care and well-being. The law also permits courts to enter temporary caregiving orders and, in appropriate circumstances, limited visitation arrangements while a case is pending to reduce stress and disruption for the animal.
The Act also provides additional consideration for senior pets. For companion animals age ten and older, courts may place greater emphasis on continuity of environment, emotional stability, routine schedules, and lessening stress.
The Companion Animal Custody Equity Act does not turn pets into children, and Illinois law still treats companion animals as property. But Illinois continues moving toward a more realistic approach to pet ownership disputes. Beginning in 2027, courts will have broader authority to consider who cared for the animal, who provided stability and support, and what arrangement best serves the animal's well-being.
How Can Pet Owners Prepare for a Potential Ownership Dispute?
For pet owners, the takeaway is simple: keep your records. Veterinary records, adoption documents, training records, receipts, and other evidence of your involvement in your pet's care may become critically important if a dispute ever arises. Under the new law, who actually cared for the animal may matter as much as the name listed on the paperwork. In short, keep the records that show your role in the animal's care.
If you have questions about how Illinois’ new pet custody law may affect you, contact us. We can help you understand your options and protect your interests and your pet’s well-being.