Steps to take after your divorce is final
You may need to take care of a few basic things after you get divorced. Most of them aren't part of the court process, like changing your will, insurance policies, or other legal or financial papers that include you and your ex-spouse or former domestic partner.
Later on, it's possible you may need to go back to court. For example, if you need to change a child custody or support order, or one of you doesn't do what your judgment says.
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Practical steps to update records
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After your divorce, review your legal and financial records. You may need to update documents that still list your former spouse or domestic partner.
Examples include:
- Change your will
- Update beneficiaries on insurance policies, bank or investment accounts
- Close any credit cards in both your names
- Tell your employer so they can change your tax withholding status, update beneficiaries listed in any employee benefit, and update your health insurance
- Change the title to your car (if that's what your judgment says)
If you changed your name
If your divorce judgment restored your former name, you can use a certified copy of your judgment to update your IDs, including:
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Driver’s license or state ID
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Social Security records
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Passport
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Bank accounts and other legal documents
If you have tax issues from a joint return
If you filed a joint tax return and your spouse created a tax debt, you may be able to ask for relief.
Learn more about:
- Innocent joint filer relief for California income taxes
- Innocent spouse relief for federal taxes
How to change court orders if things change
Sometimes things change after a divorce. For example:
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Your income changes
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Your child’s schedule changes
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You or your child move
If this happens, you may need to ask the court to change the orders in your judgment.
If you and your ex-spouse agree
If you both agree on the change, you can:
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Write down your agreement
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Turn it in to the judge
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Ask the judge to make it a new court order
You can do this for things like:
If you don’t agree
If you can’t agree, you can ask the judge to change the order.
You’ll get a court date. At the hearing, the judge will decide whether the order should change.
You can ask the judge to change orders about:
What to do if your ex-spouse doesn't follow the court's orders
Sometimes a person doesn’t do what the court ordered in the divorce judgment. There are steps you can take to enforce the order.
The court doesn’t collect money or enforce orders automatically. You must ask the court for help.
If your ex-spouse owes you money
For example, the judge may have ordered your ex-spouse to pay you money from:
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A bank account
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The sale of a car
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Other property
If they don’t pay you, you may be able to ask the court for orders to collect the money. The court won't collect the money for you, but you can use orders to have money taken from their paycheck or bank account, for example.
How to collect money from your judgment
If your ex-spouse isn't paying support
If you aren't getting paid child support, the local child support agency can help you.
If you have both a child support and spousal support order, they often help collect both.
If you only have a spousal support order, there are steps you'll have to take to collect the money.
The court doesn't collect the money for you.
If your ex-spouse isn’t returning property to you or following other orders
If the judge ordered your ex-spouse to do something, like return property to you or take your name off of legal documents, you can go back to court and ask the judge to enforce the order. This can be complicated. Ask your self-help center for your options.
Key takeaways
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After your divorce is final, you may need to update financial, legal, and personal records.
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You can ask the court to change orders later if your situation changes.
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If your ex-spouse doesn’t follow the judgment, you can ask the court to enforce the order.
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The court doesn’t collect money for you.