Tips on creating the new you after the divorce
It's probably not a newsflash, but there is life after a divorce beyond changing back to your maiden name or heading back to the gym to hit the singles circuit. It's hard to re-establish your life without having to account for your spouse. The fact remains, however, that whether you were married three years or thirty, a new life awaits you over the horizon. Here are some tips to get you on your way.
Finances This is usually a tricky situation because freshly divorced people may be gun-shy to face this head-on being that so many divorces are brought on by dealing with money. But now that you are living for one (or with kids), it's time to forge your own identity. That means things like establishing your own credit with cards in your name, or opening your own bank account. It sometimes may be better to start this process once your divorce proceedings begin so as not to keep a possibly angry ex from ruining your credit or cash flow out of spite.
Day-To-Day There are things you do everyday that your soon-to-be-ex-spouse is privy to. Do they know your passwords for your voicemail or email? Then you need to change those ASAP, assuming you haven't already. Even if you have, it's best to change them regularly (every 6 weeks or so) just in case it's been cracked again. As for your cell phone, is it a shared, "family" account? You will want to change that because you don't want your ex to snoop around your records, checking out who you've been calling.
The Internet You're on it right now—and it's all about privacy. How much of it do you need? Remember that even if you delete your ex on your Facebook account, any shared friends remain and thus accessible to your information through likes or comments. And just a friendly words of advice, but during your divorce proceedings, you may want to give sites like Facebook or Twitter a rest. You never know what you post may come back to bite you in the end.