In a modern world where emotional support animal laws georgia play a real part in many peoples lives, it is important to know how they might intersect with the many common legal matters that families often deal with, such as custody agreements and living arrangements. This article will cover some basic facts about emotional support animals which any parent or any person bound to an agreement governing the rights of a child should know and understand.
In legal terms, emotional support animals are different than service animals or pets. Service animals are those that have been specially trained to assist people with disabilities in completing necessary tasks for their life. Service animals also fall under the United States Americans with Disabilities Act – ADA. This is an important distinction because emotional support animals, which have not been given any special training for service, do not have the same protections nor regulations as service animals do.
Emotional support animals are not only defined in the Americans with Disabilities Act as being an animal that provides comfort and support to individuals who suffer from various disabilities apparent in the minds of disability advocates and organizations. In other words, emotional support animals can be available to support almost any mental disability you can imagine.
Whether or not emotional support animals will cause custody issues in divorce proceedings is a complicated question which much be answered on a case by case basis. In most states this will depend on how key points of the divorce settlement agreement are worded and what kind of custody arrangements are made. Most divorce settlements have some specific details regarding the arrangements made for the custody of any pets.
On the other hand, having an emotional support animal may also make a huge unpleasant aspect of a divorce situation into something that is possibly very helpful. The emotional support animal may be considered a shared possession between two parents. In this case, one parent must keep the emotional support animal as the primary custodian. Then, the other parent gets visitation while the animal is with the prior custodian – just like with a family member or someone in the network of people who impact the lives of children cared for in the home.
Another big area where families might see emotional support animals come into play are with laws related to housing or other arrangements that require an individual to have a permit to have a pet or emotional support animal. In general, laws about having animals in a dwelling can be affected by emotional support animals in one of two ways: (1) sometimes housing laws will allow adaptive persons to circumvent limitations such as fees for owning a pet or (2) sometimes housing laws will put restrictions on a lease agreement or rental contract stating that emotional support animals are subject to limitations.
Whichever potential situation might come up, sometimes the contractual limitations or possible allowances made for emotional support animals might negatively impact a custodial agreement. This is why it is very important to have a family law attorney who can foresee potential problems in an agreement, and adjust the details of a custodial agreement and/or divorce settlement accordingly.
For example, let’s say mom and dad did not take the possibility of needing an emotional support animal into consideration during their marriage. Dad suffers from depression. In the course of his depression, dad decided he needed an emotional support animal. Dad leaves the home with the emotional support animal, but there are no provisions in the divorce settlement agreement that allow dad to live in an apartment with his emotional support animal.
In this example, the emotional support animal would have made a positive difference in the health of both individuals, yet it has become something dad cannot accommodate into his life due to a contractual obligation resulting from a poorly constructed divorce agreement. Dad would have to carefully weigh the pros and cons of referring to the emotional support animal in a contract with the wife to allow for a change.
One of the most important aspects of emotional support animals and family legal matters is knowing your rights. For example, people with emotional support animals have the following rights when it comes to custody issues and divorce agreements:
To explore more signs that prove you would benefit from contacting an attorney, we recommend visiting the Ban Bao World site where you will find articles and resources dedicated to addressing family legal issues. For more information on emotional support animals, you can visit this Wikipedia page.
