Making the decision to divorce is only the first step. Once you've made the decision to dissolve your marriage (divorce), there are some action steps you should take.

If you and the soon-to-be-ex are taking the DIY route to divorce you should:

• Cancel all joint credit cards - open new individual accounts. Be absolutely certain that all joint accounts are actually closed. Make sure the two of you have a clear agreement about who will pay the bill while the divorce is pending. If the balance is large, also think about who will be responsible for each card's balance.
• Cancel Direct Deposit if you have it and unlink bank accounts if linked online. You will want to change your Direct Deposit so that it goes to your new individual bank account. Because it takes some time to change the Direct Deposit, you may have to keep the joint account open for a couple months. You'll be closing the joint bank account, so unlink it now so neither of you are tempted to do something spiteful later on.
• Split the money in joint accounts and each open separate, individual accounts. The general rule for dividing property in Florida is 50/50 so go ahead and split the cash you have in the bank now. Put the money into an individual account you've opened.
• Change all passwords - email, ATM, websites - and don't use the same old ones! It is time to stop recycling the same old passwords.
• Monitor your credit report to be sure the accounts are closed. You are both responsible for joint accounts so you want to be sure they are closed. If they aren't closed, one of you may later be tempted to use the account and claim that the card is lost. If that happens on an old joint account that was not closed, the other spouse will have a hassle with credit reporting and bill collectors.
• Start a folder to collect monthly bills in one place - this makes the Financial Affidavit easier. The financial Affidavit is a time consuming process. Do anything that will make it easier to track how much everything costs each month. Remember, some bills only arrive every quarter, every six months or even annually. You'll need to include those too.
• Decide how the household bills will be paid during the divorce process. Make sure your agreement is clear and write it down for both of you to sign.

Once you've made the decision to divorce, you should take action on your finances as a first step in the divorce process.