Hi, So to make a long, weird story short, my dad has been acting kind of bonkers lately (well, more so than usual, lately). This year has really shown me he's...got issues. I'm 20, my parents are divorced, and I'm currently a college sophomore living with my dad, and my dog is living with Dad too. If we need to get out of here one of these days if Dad totally loses his shit, how do my mom and I go about getting legal custody of the dog? We don't exactly have much money to work with either but if needed I'm willing to make a fund page or find a job or something. While I'm here writing, I might as well also ask how stuff like college financial aid works when someone moves suddenly, but most important is the custody. The financial aid I can figure out probably, though of course if someone can answer me on that I'd also really appreciate it. Basically if anyone wants to know wtf is going on here, between the toxic nasty comments, the frankly concerning political and bigoted comments, and the possibility of him moving his out-of-state girlfriend in here (they got engaged after literally barely even dating, and even his own best friend thinks he's gone nuts, for context), I'm starting to get the feeling again that this is not a long-term arrangement anymore and I'm basically kinda preparing to get me and my dog out of here if need be. I've got a bag with some necessities packed, so if I have to leave and manage to grab that on my way out, I won't be completely screwed and left with nothing. Anyway, if anyone takes this seriously and helps me out with this (please), thank you so much in advance. Also, I bear no ill will towards the girlfriend or her kid. If anything I'm slightly worried for them too, because idk if they know what they're potentially getting into. It could be worse, but my dad is a hoarder and a control freak, among other things. There's literally junk stacked taller than person height in some parts of the house, dust thick enough to write in, and he has repeatedly done stuff like spend tons of money on junk and blame it on other people while almost losing us our house and stuff a couple times. It's no joke.
I did some quick research about pet ownership in Virginia, and it doesn't look like there are any laws stating official "pet custody". It looks like only Alaska, Illinois, and a few other states have passed pet custody laws. Though, Virginia is not one of them. According to one site, it sounds like the pet is considered "part of the property" (in the state of a divorce) in Virginia. Another thing that could be recognized as "custody" according to the courts is who the pet is registered under and microchipping. It seems like in most cases, a written agreement could determine who "owns" the animal. Here's another site you could take a look at: https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/pet-custody.html Another thing I would consider if your dad considers himself the dog's owner, and how much of a bond there is between him and the dog. If there's no legal custody laws in Virginia, there might be some tensions if you try and take the dog with you when you move out. You may also want to have this talk with your mom, so you're both on the same page if you haven't already. Regarding college finances, you may want to get in contact with the college and see if they have anything already in place for students who change locations or suddenly move.
Thank you so much!! I'm not sure exactly whose he's considered, but I imagine he's probably considered part of Dad's property or registered in his name (dog license, all that). If I move out, though, he's got to come with me, so I'm going to try to get him if it comes to that. Me and him are very close, and while he has a bond with Dad, well. Dad's the one who almost lost us literally everything including the dogs at least once, and he also wants to move some woman he's barely even dated into the house. It took years for my doggo to fully warm up to any of us after we adopted him, so I have no idea how he feels about that bullshit, either. Of course I can't ask. Anyway, it would seriously break me if we got separated, and he would be pretty upset too, so we're going to absolutely try to get him under my or Mom's name if it comes to having to leave/move out. Leaving for college last year was hard enough on both me and my dog, and it was a pretty difficult decision. I did it not just for the college experience but also to get the fuck out of the house - Dad had been fighting with everyone all year, and one of the shittiest and most ridiculous incidents was when he basically threatened me...for dropping a fucking piece of pizza by accident. We haven't had anything like that this year, but there's been some other incidents.
