When a long-term marriage or relationship ends, the emotional turmoil often comes paired with significant financial disruption. While healing emotionally requires time, rebuilding your financial life demands immediate practical action according to financial expert Mary Castillo.
Published November 13, 2025, Castillo's guidance provides Canadians with crucial steps to protect their credit, maintain resources during transition, and establish a foundation for financial recovery after separation.
Taking Financial Inventory After Separation
Begin by creating a comprehensive list of all assets, debts, and financial accounts. This includes bank accounts, investment portfolios, insurance policies, pensions, and recurring bills. Document whose name appears on each account, current asset values, and whether any assets or liabilities existed before the relationship.
Preserve recent statements by downloading or copying them to ensure easy access to accurate information. Update this financial inventory monthly throughout the transition period to capture all changes as they occur.
Protecting Joint Accounts and Credit Rating
Once you understand your financial standing, take immediate steps to protect yourself. Consider closing joint accounts to remove your name, or if that's not possible with loans or credit lines, document communications with your former spouse and discuss temporarily freezing discretionary spending until legal matters resolve.
Inform creditors about your changed circumstances since separation only dissolves the personal relationship, not joint financial obligations. Unless you renegotiate credit agreements with lenders, joint debts remain joint responsibilities.
Request free credit reports from both Equifax and TransUnion to check for errors and unexpected activity. Protecting your credit rating during this transition is crucial for future rental verifications, employment checks, and borrowing needs.
Building Your Professional Support Team
Navigating divorce finances requires professional guidance. Your support team should include a family lawyer, certified financial planner, accountant, and potentially a non-profit credit counsellor if you need debt assistance or budget creation help.
Emotional support remains equally important during this stressful period. Decisions made under stress often prove unreliable, so trusted friends, family members, therapists, or peer groups can provide objective insight to keep you focused on long-term goals rather than impulsive choices.
Taking these practical financial steps early in the separation process can significantly reduce anxiety, protect your financial future, and create stability during a period of profound personal change.
