After the seminal case of the Marriage of Enders, in 750 ILCS 503(n), Illinois law established the allocation of pet responsibility in divorces. Here are a few of the factors that a court may consider: Who owns the companion animal; Who pays for the companion animal’s needs; Who takes care of the companion animal’s daily needs; Who walks/plays with the …
Estate planning is about protecting what’s important to you. Although much of the traditional estate planning conversation focus on surviving spouses, children, grandchildren, many pet parents wonder about what could happen to their “furry children” after their death or if they become incapacitated and unable to care for the pets. Read on if you’ve ever thought, “What will happen to …
Animals can be domesticated pets, but they can also provide emotional support to their owners. An emotional support animal (“ESA”) is used to provide a therapeutic benefit to an individual with a mental or psychiatric disability. The difference between an emotional support animal and a service animal is that the service animal usually performs a task that helps a person …
I gave this Lawline lecture last December on New York farm animal welfare law. I first talk about animal welfare laws from the national perspective and then move into New York specifically. I think it helps to see the forest for the trees and better understand where New York fits in nationally with these issues. I discuss both misdemeanor and …
Under Section 183 of NY Lien Law, any veterinarian who renders the treatment or boards any dog, cat, or other domestic animal or person keeping a livery stable, boarding stable or pasturing animals has a lien over the animal and any equipment kept and stored in conjunction with the animal such as a “wagon, truck, cart, carriage, vehicle or harness”. …
I have updated my New York Farm Animal Welfare Law Outline and you can view it now on JD Supra. I highly recommend that livestock producers in New York have a general understanding of these statutes. I highly recommend that every single farm in the state of New York have a good working relationship an attorney, veterinarian and Cornell University …
As I noted in this previous post, I am the new Chair of the American Bar Association (“ABA”), General Practice, Solo and Small Firm’s Division, Agriculture Law Committee. You can join the Committee and the Discussion List here. I have restructured the subcommittees as follows: 1. Ag ADR: mediation, arbitration 2. Ag Estate/Succession Planning, Family Law, and Taxation: estate planning,succession …
In some states, such a New York, couples are allowed to enter into an agreement after a marriage or civil union called a post-nuptial agreement discussing things such as, but not restricted to, the division of property (real property, personal property such as livestock, cash assets), child support, spousal maintenance, and a restriction on relocation (e.g., spouse cannot relocate out …
This weekend I discovered that the National Agriculture Law Center has a helpful state-by-state analysis of animal cruelty laws in the United States. Even though there are several federal statutes that regulate this issue, animal cruelty statutes vary significantly from state-to-state. It is interesting to pull up the statutes in various states and run a comparison. Though the National Agriculture …
I have had several real closings this week and was reminded this morning of this pamphlet from the New York State Bar Association (“NYSBA”) on the Attorney’s Role in Home Purchases. Most of us will purchase property at some point in our lives. The pamphlet properly describes the various responsibilities of the Buyer’s/Borrower’s attorney in real estate transactions including, but …
For those of you who missed it, in this previous post last fall I discussed why I thought prenuptial (“prenups”) agreements were “romantic.” Last night, I came across this Fact Sheet by Chris Zoller and David Marrison from The Ohio State University Extension Office discussing prenuptial agreements for farms. The Fact Sheet properly states that “[f]arm and agriculture businesses often …
If you have been following this blog then you know that I have written several posts and articles relating to livestock animal cruelty law in New York. Pursuant to New York Agriculture & Markets Law, duly incorporated animal societies (principally the New York Society for the Prevention of Animal Cruelty (“SPCA”)) can obtain warrants to search and seize farm animals. …