Capstone: Your Separation Plan

You’ve now covered every major dimension of divorce — legal, financial, custody, negotiation, emotional, and rebuilding. This final lesson integrates everything into a single actionable plan.

🔄 Quick Recall: Across seven lessons, you’ve learned the legal framework (Lesson 2), built a financial inventory (Lesson 3), designed custody arrangements (Lesson 4), prepared for negotiation (Lesson 5), developed communication tools (Lesson 6), and planned your financial future (Lesson 7). Now you’ll pull it all together.

Your Master Separation Plan

Create a complete divorce/separation action plan:

My situation:
- State: [state]
- Married: [years]
- Children: [ages, or "no children"]
- Property: [brief summary]
- Current stage: [considering / separated / filed / in progress]
- Attorney: [have one / looking / not yet]

Build a phased plan:

Phase 1: Immediate (This Week)
Phase 2: Short-term (Month 1-2)
Phase 3: Process (Months 3-6)
Phase 4: Resolution (Months 6-12)
Phase 5: Post-Divorce (First Year After)

For each phase, include:
1. Legal actions (filings, consultations, deadlines)
2. Financial tasks (accounts, documents, budgets)
3. Custody/parenting tasks (if applicable)
4. Emotional support actions (therapy, support system)
5. Communication priorities (what to discuss, with whom)

Course Review: Your Complete Toolkit

Lesson	What You Built	Key Prompt
2. Legal Fundamentals	State research, attorney prep	State research prompt, consultation prep
3. Financial Inventory	Complete asset/debt inventory	Asset inventory prompt, document checklist
4. Custody & Co-Parenting	Parenting plan, communication protocol	Parenting plan prompt, BIFF method
5. Negotiation & Mediation	Positions, interests, proposals	Mediation prep prompt, settlement proposal
6. Emotional Wellbeing	Support system, communication tools	Message rewrite prompt, support plan
7. Rebuilding Finances	Budget, credit plan, account separation	Post-divorce budget, credit rebuilding plan

Critical Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake	What This Course Taught You
Hiding assets or income	Lesson 3: Full disclosure is mandatory; courts punish concealment
Making emotional decisions about assets	Lesson 5: Compare by long-term value, not sentiment
Using children as messengers or weapons	Lesson 4: Direct co-parent communication in writing
Sending angry messages	Lesson 6: AI rewrite → judge test → then send
Ignoring financial preparation	Lesson 7: Two households cost 30-40% more than one
Skipping attorney review	Lesson 2: Even amicable agreements need legal review
Treating alimony as permanent income	Lesson 7: Plan backward from the end date
Not documenting everything	Throughout: Written records protect you in court

Your First-Week Checklist

Regardless of where you are in the process, these actions start immediately:

Open an individual bank account at a new bank
Begin your financial inventory (list every account you know about)
Gather tax returns (3-5 years), pay stubs, bank statements
Research 3 family law attorneys in your area for consultations
Check your credit report at annualcreditreport.com
Identify one person you trust to be your emotional support
Set up a secure folder (physical or digital) for divorce documents
If you have children, begin thinking about their schedule needs

✅ Quick Check: What’s the single most important thing to do this week? (Answer: Open an individual bank account. You need financial independence immediately — even if you’re only in the “considering” stage. This doesn’t mean withdrawing funds from joint accounts; it means establishing your own banking relationship. Everything else — paying individual bills, receiving your paycheck, building credit — starts from having your own account.)

When to Get Help

Situation	Who to Contact
You need legal strategy	Family law attorney
You’re overwhelmed emotionally	Divorce therapist or counselor
Complex assets or business ownership	CDFA (Certified Divorce Financial Analyst)
Children showing behavioral changes	Child therapist
Domestic violence or safety concerns	National DV Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
You need organizational support	Divorce coach
You need document preparation on a budget	Legal document preparation service

Key Takeaways

AI is your preparation partner — it helps you organize, research, and communicate, making every professional consultation more productive
Start with the financial inventory regardless of where you are in the process — you can’t plan what you haven’t measured
Every communication during divorce should pass the “judge test” — would you be comfortable with a judge reading it?
Even amicable divorces need legal review — $1,000-3,000 for review prevents $10,000+ in fixes later
Professional support (attorney, therapist, financial advisor) isn’t optional — it’s a strategic investment that improves outcomes
Divorce is temporary; the decisions you make during it are permanent — prepare thoroughly, decide carefully, and ask for help when you need it

You’ve now completed a comprehensive course on navigating divorce with AI support. The process ahead is difficult, but you have the tools to face it organized, informed, and prepared. Take it one phase at a time, lean on your support system, and remember: this chapter ends, and you get to write the next one.