Would you get a prenup for your pup? Pet owner reveals nightmare legal fight over pooch with ex

If you think you’ve found your purrfect match, you may not consider what will happen to your precious pet if there’s trouble in paradise.

At least, Erin Confortini didn’t consider the possibility that her relationship with her ex would end in disaster and heartbreak after being unable to reach a consensus on who would get full custody of their pooch Bella, now 2.

The 24-year-old content creator from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, adopted her dog when she was living with her ex. But their break-up spurred a nightmarish battle over puppy custody and Confortini claims she eventually was sued and forced to shell out $5,000 to keep her beloved pup.

“When you get a pet, you don’t think preemptively about how much you’re going to love the pet, so you don’t think it’s as big of a deal as it actually is,” Confortini told The Post.

“I definitely wish that I did my research on what happens when couples split up,” she added. “That’s just not something that is talked about.”

As more people prefer a DINK lifestyle — that is, dual income, no kids — couples are opting to nurture pets, not human children. New data from The Economist revealed a number of US cities are home to more pawrents than actual parents, like Riverside California; Phoenix, Arizona; Seattle, Washington; and Dallas, Texas.

But what do you do when you fail to discuss a pre-nup — or, in this case, a pre-pup — agreement for your fur baby Fido? After all, a pet can’t be split in half.

Pawternity

Couples often don’t take breaking up into consideration when adopting, warned holistic family law and divorce attorney Sarah Intelligator, who practices in California.

“It’s not discussed when people are getting married, because they don’t think that they’re going to get divorced, and it’s not discussed when people are just in a relationship, because the whole reason that they’re getting the pet is to try to move the relationship to a commitment,” the “Live, Laugh, Find True Love” author told The Post.

“And if they say, ‘Oh, what happens if we break up?’ then they’re kind of putting that in the other person’s mind and not pushing the relationship toward commitment.”

Confortini wishes that she had discussed the possibilities of a split before deciding to co-parent Bella, saying it was never “a topic of conversation.”

“I really wish that I would have like talked to people who maybe went through this,” she admitted, calling it a “mistake.”

Love at first bark

But getting a pet together is alluring; it may even be a push towards deeper commitment or an emotional “surrogate” for a child, so to speak, Intelligator noted.

“There is something very attractive, about caring for them, loving for them — they bring joy into a home, into a household,” Dr. Erin Engle, a psychologist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, told The Post.

“Couples can find it exciting to think about how to expand upon their own unique commitment to each other and to think about opening their families, so to speak, or opening their home or their relationship to extending their love to a pet.”

Playing with animals can also “promote the emittance of a certain hormone” called oxytocin, known as the “love hormone,” Engle added. Past studies have linked quality time with pooches to improved mood and concentration while decreasing cortisol, so not only are owners benefiting from “bonding and affiliation” but also stress relief, she explained.

A pet is furever

But, like in any relationship, open communication is key; it’s vital to discuss how the responsibility of caring for another living being will be allocated and handled, such as vet visits, vacations and financial expenses.

According to Engle, the lack of discussion is an opportunity lost to try “strategizing together” and could lead to discontent or resentment.

To avoid that, experts recommend a conversation around the potential of breaking up before adopting a pet.

Also, couples could benefit from some legal advice to avoid a bitter battle over a future pooch, which can cost upwards of $20,000 in fees to resolve, said Intelligator.

“You can say things in a way that doesn’t necessarily imply that you have trepidation about the relationship, but you’re adults, you’re undertaking a huge responsibility for a life that is completely helpless and you owe it to that life to have this conversation as two mature adults,” added Intelligator.

And, Intelligator added, knowing the “why” for getting a pet is just as important.

“Is the reason because you have some ulterior motive to kind of secretly push the relationship toward commitment to show your significant other what a great parent you would make because you’re so responsible and such a good pet mom or dad?” she said, calling it a “selfish, ulterior motive.”

As for Confortini, she would advise eager couples to pump the breaks. While a canine custody battle could be unavoidable even in marriage and divorce, co-parenting a pet in the “early stages” of dating could make for a major mess down the line.

Confortini would recommend any prospective pet parents to establish “upfront whose dog it is” and that “there’s only one person’s name on the paperwork.”

Regardless, she said, “I feel like 99% of the time you should not get a pet with another person.”