Pets: Yes!
A Cohabitation or Prenuptial Agreement is a legal contract between you and your spouse, typically about property. Pets are usually still treated as “owned” or property under Alberta Law. So, yes, an Agreement can cover where the beloved pet will live if the couple separates.
This could be part of a comprehensive agreement, or a stand-alone agreement when the pet or pets join the family.
What else can Prenuptial and Cohabitation Agreements cover?
The Alberta Family Property Act permits Cohabitation and Prenuptial agreements on property if certain technical requirements are met. Property has a broad meaning, so an agreement can cover property topics such as household goods, personal collections, houses, inheritances, land, stock options, businesses, livestock, RRSPs, RESPs, pensions, patents, investments, inheritances, trusts, gifts, family loans, intellectual property, debts and so forth. It can cover all assets and debts or only specific ones. It can cover assets and debts from before the relationship, increase in value, newly (future) acquired assets/debts, and gifts/inheritances.
An Agreement can also address spousal support. This aspect can be complex, as the law on spousal support agreements (Divorce Act, Family Law Act) is a bit different than agreements on property.
These agreements usually do not cover parenting and child support.
As Cohabitation and Prenuptial agreements are grounded in property and support legislation and contract law, lifestyle or morality types of clauses are not usually included.
If you have any more questions regarding Prenuptial or Cohabitation Agreements, please contact us to speak with Ceri or another one of our expert family lawyers.
– Written by Ceri Chwieros
