By Amethyst Tate | People
Though her divorce from Matthew Lawrence has been finalized, custody of the dog they once shared has yet to be determined.
On her iHeart podcast, Burke in the Game, the 38-year-old Dancing with the Stars pro spoke candidly on Sunday’s episode about her divorce from Lawrence, 42.
After recalling that she learned her divorce had been finalized on the premiere night of DWTS, Burke said, “It’s still not over because we have to maybe go to trial — well, we are going to go to trial, unless [Lawrence] all of the sudden calls it off. That will happen in January. I’m still just really hurt by the whole situation.”
The two will continue to dispute over ownership of their dog, Ysabella.
“That’s my dog. Ysabella is my daughter; I’m a dog mom, and that’s it. I couldn’t even imagine my life — I mean, I could just cry right now. But I couldn’t imagine my life without her,” Burke said.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Burke’s attorney Scott Klopert says, “The firm does not comment on pending litigation.” An attorney for Lawrence could not immediately be reached by PEOPLE for comment.
“It might seem crazy, but to pet “parents,” the hardest part of divorce may come down to who gets to keep the family pet. I have personally represented a client in this exact situation, where we were able to reach agreements on every aspect of the divorce except for who would get the dog. This is complicated by the fact that courts view a typical family pet as just another piece of property in a divorce, though recent trends suggest that we may start to see that change.”
Scott Ghormley, Rose Law Group Family Law Attorney
