What Leaving Would Actually Take
Four short lists: money, a place, the shared things, and people. Mark each item sorted or not. You get the itemized page, a count of what is still open, and the two items holding the rest up.
Read this part first.
This is a logistics list for a breakup you are dreading. It is not a safety plan. If your planning is mostly about how they will react rather than how you will feel, talk to people who do this every day before you do anything else. Leaving is when a controlling or violent relationship most often escalates.
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233. Text START to 88788. Chat at thehotline.org. If you are having thoughts of harming yourself, call or text 988 in the US.
Money
What you can reach, and what is only in their name.
Money you could reach this week without asking anyone
Cash, your own account, a card that is yours.
An account, a card, and a paycheck in your name only
Not joint. Not one they can see.
A deposit and a first month, or a way around them
Or the two weeks that buy you time to find one.
A place
The first two weeks, then after that.
Somewhere to sleep for the first two weeks
A couch counts. It only has to be real.
Where you would live after that
Which area, what it costs, whether you would qualify.
What you would take, and where the rest goes
Documents before furniture.
The shared things
Everything with both of you attached to it.
The lease or the mortgage, and whose name is on it
What the document says, not what you remember.
The pet
Who they stay with, and whether the first place allows them.
The car, the title, and who is on the insurance
Including how you get to work without it.
The phone plan, and who can see the bill
A shared plan shows the numbers you call.
Shared logins, subscriptions, streaming, the photo account
Small, numerous, and easy to leave for later.
Everywhere your address is on file
Bank, work, doctor, dentist, deliveries, government mail.
People
Who knows, who helps, who you call after.
Who you would tell first
One person, before it happens.
Who would physically help you move
Two hands and a car beats a moving quote.
Who you would call the night after
The evening nobody plans for.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What do I actually need before I leave a relationship?
In practice it comes down to four things: money you can reach without asking anyone, somewhere to sleep for the first two weeks, a decision about whatever is shared in both your names, and one person who knows. Everything else is smaller than it feels. This tool walks you through each one and shows you which are still open.
What if I cannot afford to leave right now?
Then the money items are the plan, and naming them is how you start. A card and a paycheck in your own name usually matter more than a lump sum, and they take days rather than months. Two weeks on a friend's couch replaces a deposit you do not have. Nothing on this page requires you to move this month.
How do I prepare when we live together?
Read the lease or the mortgage instead of trusting your memory of it, and find out whose name is on it and what the notice period is. Then handle the quiet ones: the phone plan, the shared logins, everywhere your address is on file. Those are the items people forget and then scramble over on the day.
Do I need an account, and is anything I type here saved?
No account, no email, no sign-up. Everything runs in your browser: what you mark and any name you type stays on your device, is not sent anywhere, and is not stored, here or on our side. Closing the tab clears it. That also means the list does not come back on its own, so use the copy button or take a screenshot before you leave the page if you want to keep it.
Does this tell me whether I should leave?
No. It makes no recommendation, gives no score, and takes no position on your relationship. It only itemizes what a departure would involve, which is useful whether you go or stay. Plenty of people fill it out and decide to stay with a clearer head. If you want help with the decision itself, that is a different question and a different page.