The Intentional Divorce Library
Divorce comes with more financial questions than anyone expects. This is where you'll find real answers on asset division, budgeting, retirement, and the mistakes that quietly cost women the most, written by a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst who has helped clients navigate exactly what you're facing now.
No fluff, no fear tactics. Just the information you need to make clear-eyed decisions and protect the life you're building next.
Not sure where to start?
Every article here is written for a particular moment. Start with the stage that matches where you are, and you will find the handful of pieces that actually apply to you.
- I am considering divorce. Can I afford it, what happens to the house, what should I know before talking to an attorney.
- I am preparing for divorce. Documents, credit, insurance, retirement accounts, and choosing your professional team.
- I am going through divorce. The house, support, dividing retirement, QDROs, taxes, and evaluating a settlement.
- My divorce is final. Retitling assets, confirming the QDRO, beneficiaries, rebuilding cash flow and credit.
Browsing by topic instead? Every category is listed in the sidebar, from QDROs and the family home to co-parenting and life after divorce.
The first Christmas after divorce is the hardest one, and it helps to expect that rather than be blindsided by it. Set your expectations low, decide the schedule with your co-parent in advance, keep the traditions that still feel right and replace the ones that don't, and give yourself permission to...
Writing a letter of gratitude to an ex is not something most people plan to do. In the early weeks and months after a divorce, gratitude is usually the last thing on your mind.
But for those navigating life as co-parents after divorce, something can shift. The person who once felt like an adversary...
Change can be difficult whether you choose to make changes in your life or someone else has made that choice for you. Let's face it. Divorce changes many facets of your life and will test your ability to handle change to an extreme.
Some people struggle more than others with change. They fight it, t...
When a child refuses to visit their other parent, the usual cause is the transition itself rather than the other parent. Consistency is what fixes it: keep the routine predictable, keep your own anxiety off your face, let them bring familiar things, and prepare them in advance. Unless there is negle...
A co-parenting schedule works for the school year when both households run on the same basic rhythm: consistent bedtimes and homework routines, a shared calendar both parents can see, duplicate supplies at each house so nothing has to travel, and a written agreement on who pays for what. Settle the ...
Talking to your kids about divorce is one of the hardest parts of the whole process.
You are managing your own emotions while trying to find the right words for theirs. You want to be honest without overwhelming them. You want them to feel safe and loved even as everything around them is changing...
Helping kids through divorce comes down to four things: keeping conflict with their other parent away from them, telling them the truth at a level they can hold, keeping their daily life as predictable as you can, and getting support for yourself so you are not processing your divorce in front of th...
Child support rarely covers everything. Activities, braces, phones, camp, tutoring, and the car all sit outside the basic support calculation, and they are where co-parents end up arguing years after the divorce is final. The fix is specificity: name the categories in your agreement, decide how each...
Co-parenting after divorce means raising your children jointly with your ex while living in separate households, with both parents staying actively involved in decisions, schedules, and daily care. It works best when both parents choose it deliberately: keeping a consistent schedule, communicating d...
The holidays during or after a divorce are hardest the first year, and they get easier. What helps most: agree the schedule with your co-parent early rather than in December, decide in advance what you will say to family so you are not improvising over dinner, keep the traditions that still work and...
Last night, I was at my mom's house with my three kids. We were all sitting around watching a movie after dinner, and my ex and I were texting about the kids' schedule for Monday. I asked if he wanted to join us for the movie and to my surprise, he did.
Three years ago, when we were in the midst of ...
A parenting plan should cover the regular schedule, holidays and special occasions, school breaks and sick days, travel, decision-making authority, healthcare, education, expenses, and how the two of you will communicate. The clauses people most often leave out, and later wish they hadn't, are the r...
