Divorce Checklist
4.8/5 with 424 votes
Table of Contents
Introduction
Our Divorce Checklist is designed to guide you through the complex process of divorce, ensuring that you cover all essential legal, financial, and personal aspects. This template helps you organize critical information, from gathering personal details and assessing your financial situation to planning for custody and support arrangements. By clicking Save, you can customize the checklist to suit your needs and utilize our Checklist App to sync tasks across devices, share with trusted advisors, and keep track of your progress seamlessly.
What's included
Save the full checklist and customize it later.
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- Personal Information to be Gathered
- Each spouse's name, date of birth, and Social Security number
- Names and birth dates of children
- Date and place of marriage and length of time in present state
- Information about prior marriages and children
- Date of separation and grounds for divorce
- Current occupation of spouses and name/address of employers
- Education and degrees of each spouse
- Name, address, and telephone number of divorce attorney
- Assessing Financial Situation
- Income of each spouse
- Expenses of each spouse
- Assets of the spouses (joint and separate)
- Liabilities of each spouse
- Employee benefits each spouse is entitled to
- Life, health, and disability insurance policies owned by each spouse
- Credit reports
- Property Settlements
- Does prenuptial agreement exist?
- Do spouses reside in a community property state?
- Have all assets been listed, valued, and classified as joint or separate?
- Have the tax bases of all assets been determined?
- If assets will be transferred or sold, have tax consequences been calculated and explained to client?
- Have loans and other liabilities on the properties (or otherwise) been listed and considered?
- Is there a family business?
- Alimony and Child Support
- Have tax consequences of classifying support as alimony or child support been reviewed?
- Has physical custody of children been determined?
- Has legal custody of children been determined?
- Have visitation parameters been established for the noncustodial parent?
- Has it been decided which spouse will get dependency exemption?
- Will alimony be paid?
- Marital Home
- Will home be transferred to either spouse as part of settlement? If yes, has cost basis been reviewed for improvements?
- Has amount of outstanding mortgage been calculated?
- Will the principal residence be sold to a third party? If yes, has the tax cost (if any) been computed?
- Retirement Planning
- Have retirement plans been listed and interests in retirement plans been reviewed?
- Will the divorce decree provide a payout from the plan? If so, will a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) be used?
- Should beneficiary designations be changed?
- Will any IRS penalties apply?
- Tax Planning
- If already divorced, was divorce finalized by year-end?
- If still married at year-end, agree to file jointly?
- Have joint filing risks been discussed?
- Has separate maintenance decree been obtained to permit filing as unmarried or head of household?
- Have head of household conditions been met?
- Who will claim the dependent child exemption?
- Who should claim for the largest financial benefit?
- Other
- Should will and trust be changed?
- Should insurance policy beneficiaries be changed?
- Should banks and other creditors be notified of divorce and signatures changed?
- Will either spouse's health insurance plan cover the children post-divorce? Cover spouse?
- Has budget been revised to account for changes in income and liabilities?
- Does credit need to be repaired or established?
- DO List
- Make sure you have a good/current inventory of all property, owned separately or jointly in the marriage.
- Make sure you know where all of your cash or other liquid assets are prior to filing; consult with your attorney about protecting these assets during the divorce proceedings.
- Make sure you know all of your current debt [credit cards] balances before sitting down with an attorney.
- Make sure [once a lawsuit has been filed] that all credit cards are turned off [to prevent the other spouse from running them up after the legal "bomb" is dropped]
- Make sure you keep contacts with your attorney [or his assistants] as brief as possible
- DON'T List
- Clean out all of your bank accounts and "hide the money" without getting proper direction from your attorney.
- Let the emotions of the legal turmoil force you into making multiple calls to your attorney or their assistant; you'll pay the price when you get your bill at the end of the month!
- Expect to be able to correspond with your attorney or their assistants via e-mail; most lawyers agree it's extremely unsafe to use this method for exchanging attorney-client privileged information.
- Agree (either verbally or in writing) to ANYTHING without getting your attorney's approval, first and always! You've hired an attorney to protect your interests
- Agree to any sort of settlement without making sure that you are off any and all liabilities, or potential liabilities
Download or Print this Divorce Checklist
Get a printable version of this checklist in your preferred format: PDF, Word, Excel, or print directly from your browser.
Presented by:
Campbell Rodriguez
Stats
Views
848
Views: 848
Uses
39
Uses: 39
Tasks
68
Tasks: 68
Who it's for
This Divorce Checklist is for anyone who wants a simple, practical way to get things done without missing steps.
- Avoid forgetting - keep all your Divorce essentials in one place (external memory)
- Save time - start from a proven Divorce structure instead of a blank page
- Stay on track - track progress, come back later, and keep momentum
- Coordinate with others - share the list and divide responsibilities
- Learn the process - follow the steps in a sensible order, even if it's your first time
How to use it
How to use this Divorce Checklist
- Save Divorce Checklist to your free Checklist account so your progress is saved and synced across devices.
- Customize it in the app: remove anything that does not apply, then add your own details for Divorce (dates, sizes, addresses, notes).
- If others are involved, invite them to collaborate and divide responsibilities.
- Work through the list: check items off as you go, and set reminders for time-sensitive steps.
Rate this Checklist
5 stars
Scores 4.80 with 424 votes