Your divorce plan and checklist

What does the divorce plan do?

It turns your answers into a list of what to do next, in the order that usually works best. Most guides to divorce describe every possible route. Your plan leaves out the parts that don’t apply to you, so a parent who owns a home with a mortgage and a pension sees different steps from someone renting with no children.

You tell us where you are (thinking about it, going through it or after), which part of the UK you live in, whether you’re married, in a civil partnership or not married, and a little about children, your home, pensions and how much you agree on. We only ask how many children you have and roughly how old they are, never their names.

From that, the plan gives you:

• Your steps in order, from getting your paperwork together to what to do once it’s final, with the next one marked.
• Real dates once you add the date your application was issued, including the earliest dates for the conditional and final orders and the 12-month deadline.
• A checklist you can tick off as you go, with each item linked to the guide that explains it.
• The guides to read, in the order you’ll need them, and a list of guides you’ve saved.

What goes on a divorce checklist?

A good divorce checklist covers the documents you’ll be asked for and the practical jobs that are easy to forget. The documents come first, because the money can’t be agreed until you both have the full picture. If the money ends up in court, Form E asks for 12 months of statements for every bank account, your last three payslips and P60, and a cash equivalent value for each pension (Form E, section by section).

• Your marriage or civil partnership certificate
• 12 months of bank and savings statements
• Your last three payslips and your latest P60
• A cash equivalent value from each pension scheme, which can take a few weeks to arrive
• Your mortgage statement and an idea of the home’s value, or your tenancy agreement
• A list of debts, and two years of business accounts if either of you runs a business

The practical jobs matter just as much: change your passwords, open a bank account in your own name if you don’t have one, agree arrangements for any children, and get your financial agreement approved by the court as a consent order before the final order. Once it’s final, make a new will and update your pension nominations. Our guide to getting organised before divorce and after divorce checklist go through each one.

How are the dates worked out?

In England and Wales, the law sets two waits. You can apply for the conditional order 20 weeks after the court issues the divorce application, and for the final order 6 weeks and 1 day after the conditional order is made (Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 1). Your plan counts those from the dates you give it. It also shows a realistic finish date, because most divorces take longer than the minimum: in April to June 2026 the median time from application to final order was 41 weeks for sole applications and 35 weeks for joint ones (Ministry of Justice). Our divorce timeline calculator shows the same dates on their own.

Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own divorce law. In Scotland you can divorce after one year apart if you both agree, or two years if you don’t (Divorce (Scotland) Act 1976). In Northern Ireland you can’t apply in the first two years of marriage, and the separation periods are two years with consent or five without (nidirect). If you live there, your plan uses those rules and points you to divorce in Scotland or divorce in Northern Ireland.

Is my plan private?

Yes. Until you sign in, your answers stay in your browser and aren’t sent to us. If you sign in, we store your answers, ticks and saved guides in your account so you can open them on another device. Nobody else can see them, and you can delete them at any time. You can’t upload documents, and we never ask for names. If you share a computer, use the Quick exit button, or clear your answers from the browser when you’re done. Our privacy policy explains exactly what we keep.

Free plan or membership?

The plan, checklist, dates and saved guides are free and always will be. Membership is a paid extra. It adds the organiser tools: a finances builder that follows the sections of Form E, a monthly budget for two households and a co-parenting calendar. It also includes the members’ rooms, which open on Monday 4 January 2027.

Common questions

Sources

1. Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 1 (as amended by the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020)
2. GOV.UK, Get a divorce
3. Ministry of Justice, Family Court Statistics Quarterly: April to June 2026, Table 12b
4. HM Courts and Tribunals Service, Form E: financial statement
5. Divorce (Scotland) Act 1976, section 1
6. Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006, section 28
7. nidirect, Getting a divorce or dissolving a civil partnership

Keep reading

Your plan and this page are general information about divorce and separation, not legal or financial advice. Laws, fees and figures change, so check the sources above and speak to a qualified professional about your situation. Facts checked 20 October 2026.