Separating or divorcing with your money, your rights, and — if you have them — your children
protected. The calm moves that keep a hard ending from turning into a catastrophe.
The end of a marriage or a long partnership is one of the hardest things a person goes through — and one
of the easiest to make far worse. Under hurt and pressure, people make permanent decisions they come to
regret: emptying a joint account, moving out in a hurry, or fighting a total war through lawyers and
children. It rarely has to go that way. Most of what actually protects you is practical and can be done
calmly — secure your own finances, get the right kind of help (usually not the most aggressive
kind), and, if you have kids, keep them out of the crossfire. This kit is the plain-language map: what to
do first, how to get help without being fleeced, and how to put the children first. Free, private, works
offline.
If you're afraid of your partner, or leaving feels unsafe, that changes the order of
everything — your safety comes before any of the money or paperwork here. See the When Home Isn't
Safe kit first, and get help from a domestic-violence service before you act.
General navigation information — not legal, financial, or therapeutic
advice. Divorce, separation, property, and custody law vary enormously by country and region; treat
examples as examples, check your local rules, and for your own situation get advice from a qualified family
lawyer, a legal-aid service, or a mediator.
Free and public domain (CC0). Everything runs in your browser — no accounts, no tracking,
nothing uploaded. Copy it, translate it, re-host it. General navigation information, not legal, financial,
or therapeutic advice; divorce, property, and custody law vary hugely by country — check yours and get local
advice for your situation.
Last reviewed: June 2026. This is general information that can age — verify time-sensitive specifics (laws, numbers, programs, app menus) against current official sources.