Dog custody is new divorce sticking point as One Tree Hill star slapped with $10K-per-day fine: Its becoming worse and worse
We’re entering the dog days of divorce.Separations have always been ugly when it comes to who gets the house and the kids — but warring couples can also go barking mad over who keeps the dog.“One Tree Hill” star Shantel VanSanten has reached a wild divorce agreement with her ex-husband Victor Webster over the custody of their canine, Nova.
The actress, 38, will be forced to pay her former spouse a staggering $10,000 per day if she keeps the rescue pooch in her possession for longer than three weeks at a time, court docs obtained by Page Six reveal.VanSanten — who has also appeared in other hit shows including “The Boys” and “FBI” — must also provide frequent updates about Nova’s whereabouts to Webster, 51, whenever the canine is in her care.
But while the agreement may seem extreme, it’s far from unusual, according to one Big Apple divorce attorney.“I have had cases where we have fought over who was going to pay for the Bark Mitzvah,” top attorney Susan Moss told The Post, alleging that acrimony over animals is now par for the course in many of her cases.
Family lawyer Vicky Poumpouridis agrees, telling The Post she was recently involved in a case where a separated couple were so devoted to their dog that their divorce agreement included specifications about what foods and medications each would provide for the animal.“Pets are huge parts of divorces,” Moss explained.
“When there are no kids, the animals take on the role of children.People will fight to the ends of the earth for their dogs and cats.”Moss said that as more people choose not to have children, “animals become their surrogates.”“As vicious as a child custody case can be, an animal custody can be, too,” she stated.
“It’s becoming worse and worse.”VanSanten and Webster married in Oct.2021, and do not have any children together.
Nova served as a ring bearer in one of the former couple’s three wedding ceremonies, and the pooch appears in many of thei...