It’s no secret that divorce can be messy. Dividing up assets, coordinating custody, figuring out the financials – it’s completely natural for emotions to run high. You might feel like nothing fits where it should anymore, like a puzzle with a few too many missing pieces. 

But, you don’t have to let divorce derail you completely. Knowing how to stay organized during your divorce is helpful for many, and can be a source of stress relief in this seriously stressful time. Read on to get yourself organized and get your divorce process back on track. 

1. Coordinate Your Contacts

You’ll need many people to talk to throughout the difficult divorce process. This should, of course, include close friends and family for emotional support, but will likely include quite a few divorce professionals as well. When you need to talk, you need to talk – the last thing you want is to have lost an important number when the time comes to make a call. 

Although smartphones have made losing a number much less likely (who takes notes on paper anymore?), it can be helpful to have your important numbers all in one place. This could be on your phone, on your calendar, or even stuck to your fridge. These contacts should include: 

• Your attorney, 
• Your soon-to-be ex’s attorney, 
• Your financial advisor, 
• Your insurance agent, 
• Your estate attorney, and 
• Any other professional helping you through the process, such as a mediator or therapist 

Another important contact to consider is your emergency contact. You more than likely listed your future ex-spouse as your emergency contact, and in certain circumstances, this may still be viable. If you are parting on amicable terms and will continue to live close by, there’s no reason you can’t keep them as your contact. However, if the terms of your divorce aren’t quite so friendly, you’ll want to change this contact sooner rather than later. 

“You’ll need many people to talk to throughout the difficult divorce process. “

2. Consider the Costs

Divorce can be costly, and you don’t want to be caught off guard by an unexpected expense. Some factors to figure into your budget are:

• Legal fees, 
• Alimony and child support, 
• Purchase or lease of a new car, if you were sharing one with your ex, 
• Rent or mortgage for a new home or apartment, 
• Moving costs such as moving services and utilities costs, and 
• Any new furniture or appliances you may need. 

3. Update Your Accounts

Unless your settlement requires that your spouse remain a beneficiary for a period of time post-divorce, you’ll want to make sure they’re no longer a beneficiary on accounts such as: 

• Your personal checking and savings accounts, 
• Any investments, 
• Stocks and bonds, 
• Mutual funds, 
• Your 401(k), 
• IRA, 
• Pension, 
• Military benefits, 
• 403(b), 
• Roth IRA, and 
• Any trusts. 

This can be a hassle, but it’s better to get it out of the way as soon as you can. You don’t want to forget about your bank accounts, either. You’ll want to: 

• Open your own bank account, if you don’t have one already, 
• Close your joint bank account (after the proceedings are finalized), 
• Get your own credit cards, and 
• Close any joint credit cards. 

4. Insurance

Insurance can be complicated, but you need to make sure you get your own to avoid any potential issues in court. If this feels overwhelming, don’t hesitate to ask for help from your attorney or insurance agent. 

You’ll need to untangle any policies you shared with your spouse, such as car insurance, health insurance, life insurance, and homeowners/renters insurance. 

For car insurance, purchase a new policy if you are being removed from your old one, and make sure the right name is on each car title. 

For health insurance, use your policy’s “qualifying life event” section to remove your spouse as a dependent. If you were the dependent, you can enroll in coverage through your employer, also under a “qualifying life event”. 

For life insurance, make sure you account for alimony payments and child support before removing your spouse as a beneficiary. However, if you aren’t obligated to pay anything per the divorce agreement, you can go ahead and remove your ex as a beneficiary once the divorce is final. 

Finally, for homeowners’ or renters’ insurance, let your property insurance company know that you’re going through a divorce so they can remove the name of whichever spouse is not the homeowner from the policy.

5. Handle Your Home

If you’re the one staying in your home, make sure you have all utilities in your name, that you know how to pay them, and know how much they should be. You should also make sure you know the location of the deed or lease and all of the ownership details. 

If you’re the one moving out, make sure none of the utilities are still in your name and go on your merry way.

6. Think Ahead: Revise Your Will. 

When getting divorced, you’ll need to remove your ex-spouse’s name from a number of legal documents. First and foremost among them, your Will. You don’t want to put this one off: it can make things quite complicated for any future family if something should happen to you. 

7. Make Sure the Kids are Alright

Custody and co-parenting are complicated, but staying organized can make them much less so. You should make sure that both you and your ex-spouse have comprehensive lists of your children’s doctors, medications, immunization records, and food allergies. You’ll also want to make sure you have a handle on their monthly schedules for things such as camp, school, tutoring, extracurriculars, and holidays. 

Finally, keep an eye out for any noticeable changes in your child’s mood or behavior. Divorce isn’t just stressful for you, but can be for them, too. Figuring out how to stay organized during your divorce helps them by ensuring minimal disruptions to their usual routine. 

There’s no doubt that this time is difficult, but knowing how to stay organized during your divorce can definitely help. Organization can make the divorce less stressful for everyone involved and keep the process as smooth and painless as possible.