Divorce checklist: what to sort out, in order.
One of the situations people bring to Atlas. A marriage is ending and nobody knows what to do first. The checklist below is free to use whether or not you ever open Atlas.
There is no shortage of things to do and no obvious place to start. This is the order the pieces usually matter in — paper first, because everything else waits on it, then money, then where everyone lives, then the accounts nobody thinks about until later.
Tick items off right here — no account needed. Your ticks stay in this browser.
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Everything you have ticked comes across already done.
First — gather the paper
Most of the delay in a divorce is waiting on documents. Getting these into one place early saves weeks later.
Then — the money questions
These are decisions, not paperwork. They take the longest and cause the most argument, so name them early even if you cannot answer them yet.
Then — where everyone lives
Housing usually sets the timeline for everything else.
Then — the accounts to change
Easy to postpone, and expensive to forget. Several of these outlive the divorce if nobody touches them.
What needs a lawyer
This is a checklist, not legal advice, and none of it is specific to where you live. Divorce law differs by state and country, and the rules on property, support and custody are not the same anywhere. A family law attorney in your own area should confirm anything about what you are entitled to, what you owe, and what you sign. If cost is the obstacle, a local legal aid office or your court's self-help centre is the place to ask.
Where Atlas carries it
The hard part is rarely the list. It is keeping track of which document you are still waiting on, what you decided three weeks ago, and what is due next — while getting on with the rest of your life.
That is what Atlas is for. You describe the situation in your own words, hand it whatever you already have, and it keeps the pieces in order, remembers what you decided, and tells you what is next. Atlas informs. You decide.
No account yet? You will be asked to sign in first, then the checklist loads with your ticks already in place.