Separation: a practical checklist
The practical side: documents and finances, advice, housing, arrangements about children, separating shared access and a pace you can sustain.

[ ] Get professional advice early
    Before any statements or agreements. Rules and consequences differ by country and circumstance.
[ ] Gather personal documents and copies
    Identity papers, certificates, children's documents, contracts, statements. Keep copies separately, somewhere only you can reach.
[ ] Write down the full financial picture
    Income, accounts, property, loans, compulsory payments. From memory this conversation is always unfair to both sides.
[ ] Sort housing for the near term
    A calm place matters more than winning an argument. Even a temporary solution beats living inside a conflict.
[ ] Agree the basics about the children first
    Where they live, how handovers work, school and doctors, how you communicate about practicalities. Their routine cannot wait.
[ ] Agree what the children are told and how
    Simple, honest words without the details of the adult conflict. Arrangements are not discussed in front of them — that is its own boundary.
[ ] Separate shared accounts and subscriptions from a list
    Family plans, streaming, deliveries, saved payment methods. Calmly and one at a time rather than by cutting each other off.
[ ] Check access to your own key accounts
    Email, cloud, banking, documents. Change passwords anyone else knew and switch on two-factor authentication.
[ ] Sort out post and a contact address
    Where letters, bills and formal notices arrive. A missed document creates avoidable problems and deadlines.
[ ] Sort out the compulsory payments
    Loans, utilities, insurance, school and activities. Decide who pays what before the first missed payment, not after.
[ ] List the property and agree about belongings
    A written list is calmer than a verbal argument. Personal items and gifts are usually easiest to settle first.
[ ] Tell work if it affects your schedule
    Not the details, only the fact: there may be time off and calls. It removes some tension and unnecessary questions.
[ ] Find support instead of coping alone
    Family, a professional, a group. Not weakness: the practical tasks need capacity, and capacity comes from support.
[ ] Avoid major decisions in the first weeks
    Selling a home, changing jobs, moving cities. If a decision can wait, let it wait.
[ ] Record agreements in writing
    Even practical ones: who collects the children when, who pays what. In a month, both sides remember it differently.
[ ] Work through the tasks one a day
    The practical side is long. One task a day is a pace you can sustain, unlike a single exhausting session.

Checklist from Unload: https://unloads.me/c/divorce-organizing