• Understand the divorce process and its timings

  Task · Due 1 week after your date you separated (or the date you're working from)

  In England & Wales you must have been married (or in a civil partnership) at least a year before you can apply. Once you apply, there is a minimum 20-week reflection period before the conditional order, then a further 6 weeks before the final order — so the process takes at least around 26 weeks. Scotland and Northern Ireland differ. GOV.UK's guidance (gov.uk/divorce) walks through each step.

• Get independent legal advice, when you're ready

  Task · Due 2 weeks after your date you separated (or the date you're working from)

  A solicitor or a family-mediation service can talk you through your options with no obligation. If cost is a worry, legal-aid and free advice services exist — this is guidance, not something you must do.

• Talk through day-to-day arrangements for the children

  Task · Due 3 weeks after your date you separated (or the date you're working from)

  Where the children live, time with each parent, school and holidays. Many families agree this between themselves or with a mediator, without going to court. There's no rush and no right order.

• Sort child maintenance

  Task · Due 1 month after your date you separated (or the date you're working from)

  You can agree this privately, or the Child Maintenance Service can help work it out. Take it at whatever pace feels manageable.

• Review any joint bank accounts

  Task · Due 2 weeks after your date you separated (or the date you're working from)

  You can ask your bank to freeze a joint account or change how it operates while you decide. No need to close anything in a hurry.

• Split or move shared bills and direct debits

  Task · Due 4 weeks after your date you separated (or the date you're working from)

  Utilities, council tax, subscriptions and insurance — work through them slowly and keep a note of what you've moved.

• Sort the mortgage or tenancy on your home

  Task · Due 2 months after your date you separated (or the date you're working from)

  Whether the home is owned or rented, both names usually stay responsible until it's formally changed. Your lender, landlord or a solicitor can explain the options — there's no need to decide today.

• Update your will

  Task · Due 1 month after your date you separated (or the date you're working from)

  Separation doesn't automatically change a will, so it's worth revisiting who inherits and who you've named. A small thing that's easy to overlook.

• Update beneficiaries and pension nominations

  Task · Due 1 month after your date you separated (or the date you're working from)

  Life insurance, workplace and private pensions often name a beneficiary directly. Check whether any still name your former partner and update them if you'd like to.

• Update your name and address where needed

  Task · Due 2 months after your date you separated (or the date you're working from)

  If you're changing your name or moving, there's a gentle cascade — passport, driving licence, bank, GP, employer, HMRC and the electoral roll. Only if it applies to you, and only when you're ready.

Also included

• Support is available

  Guidance

  Separation is hard, and support is there whenever you want it — relationship and family-support services, and free legal-aid guidance if money is tight. This isn't a task and there's nothing to tick off; it's just here as a reminder that you don't have to do this on your own.

• About this setup

  Guidance

  We've laid the practical steps out gently, grouped so you can take them one at a time. Almost nothing here has a deadline — the dates are only a soft ordering, and you can move or ignore anything. In England & Wales the divorce itself takes a minimum of around 26 weeks once you apply; everything else is at your own pace. This note creates nothing.