Going through a divorce: the money checklist.

Separate your credit early

Close or freeze joint cards and lines of credit. To the lender, joint debt stays joint no matter what the divorce decree says: a missed payment by an ex still lands on your report.

Open accounts in your own name

Your own checking account and a credit card in your name alone, before the separation is final. Credit history in your own name matters most right when it's hardest to build.

Use a QDRO to split retirement accounts

A qualified domestic relations order divides a 401(k) or pension without triggering taxes and penalties. Splitting one without it turns a transfer into a taxable withdrawal.

Know how the calendar sets your filing status

Your marital status on December 31 determines the whole year's tax filing status. Finalizing in December versus January can change the bill; head-of-household status has its own rules.

Update every beneficiary the decree allows

Retirement accounts, life insurance, and payable-on-death designations override your will. An ex-spouse left on a 401(k) beneficiary form can inherit it regardless of what the divorce papers say.

Sort health coverage before the decree finalizes

Divorce ends spousal coverage and opens a special enrollment window. Compare COBRA against the marketplace at your new single income: the price difference is often large.

Budget for one household becoming two

The same combined income now covers two rents, two sets of utilities, and duplicated everything. Re-run the budget at the new normal before the settlement math, not after.